Gujarat Governor O P Kohli has signed the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill, 2009, which has the provisions of compulsory voting and 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.Once the Act comes into effect, Gujarat will be the first state to have the provision of compulsory voting.
Jay Panda,BJD : Making voting compulsory may have certain repercussions which we have to wait & see pic.twitter.com/VWqLP73hr2
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 10, 2014
This same bill was passed twice by the Gujarat government led by the then chief minister Narendra Modi, had faced stiff resistance from former governor Kamla Beniwal on the ground that forcing voters to compulsorily vote violates Article 21 of the Constitution.
Jay Panda,BJD on Guj Guv gives nod to mandatory voting Bill: In Indian conditions there should be more awareness campaigns to go out & vote
— ANI (@ANI_news) November 10, 2014
The Bill provides that a person, who does not vote in the local body polls, will be liable for penal action and punishment.
