This by itself may not mean to anything much but when it is clubbed with other measures like stopping the criminals from contesting it will definitely help in cleaning up the political system...
True...to an extent but we still cannot forget that even with the electronic systems, booth capturing still happens in UP, Bihar and many other places and in such events, people may be forcibly denied from using this option. It can not necessarily happen but is still an eventuality in states where guns get the votes!
Kalyani, I feel that if the criminal ordinance bill is modified and the criminals debarred from contesting, such behavior too may come down at least to some extent ! But one cannot stop criminals ruling the roost by proxy, latching on to a friend or a family member and getting them elected ..
Usha, yes I also feel that the criminal ordinance bill might bring about some positive improvements and is definitely good for cleaning up the system at least partially. But then as we have seen in so many instances that in spite of concrete evidences many criminals never get convicted due to some or the other reason and in that case, such criminals are very much likely to get the tickets to contest elections. And yet, these really are the signs of positive changes and we must not lose heart!
We must not lose heart because there is always silver lining. All that we need is conscious voters. There must always be good candidate to vote. It is for voter to reject the corrupt and criminal howsoever well known and influential he is and support the honest and clean even if he is relatively lesser known and has a low profile.
Yes, so long as educated and cultured people vote consciously then we can improve things to a great extent. But consciousness to vote dutifully is severely lacking in the current educated and nouveau-rich classes nowadays who consider election days to be vacation days and would rather go enjoy picnic somewhere rather than patiently wait in lines for voting.
In metros the voting percentages is very low, as this can ruin the democracy and for this there are some thoughts of making voting mandatory or voting should be related to career advancements.
There is no substitute for awareness and consciousness. Making voting compulsory remind me of proverb- You may take a horse to water but cannot make him drink. Moreover conceptually compulsory voting is undemocratic. You have a write to vote which includes right not to vote. In fact, even the right to reject all candidates is nothing but right not to vote.
Constitution gives citizens rights and there are many more duties to perform by citizen, we have right to walk on road free, but that does not say walk between the road to make traffic congest, there are duties, as consciousness should creep in the mind of people who are not voting at all.