Gujarat hamlet slaps fine on vote skippers

Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani, who is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from his traditional Gandhinagar constituency near Ahmedabad, has been shouting from the rooftops that those failing to exercise their right to franchise should be barred from voting in future.

But a hamlet in the BJP-ruled state has made voting compulsory for its 950 electors several years ago. In Raj Samadhiyala, 30km from Rajkot, any villager who skips voting is not only fined Rs51 but is also given a social punishment by an 11-member management committee.

The social punishment could include cleaning the streets, helping the sick, taking care of the senior citizens, etc.

The result is that the village has been recording 98 per cent polling in all elections since 1985, whether it is panchayat, assembly or Lok Sabha polls or by-polls.

After all, even when a villager cannot make it to the polling booth on the voting day due to some illness, an outstation trip or a pressing engagement like a wedding, he or she must take the permission of the village chieftain to abstain from casting the vote.

mahesh@khaleejtimes.com

• India