A reform starts with a change starting from our own attitude and mindset. We’ve always been blaming to the Government and politicians for different issues but who is actually responsible for it is a question to think and analyze. We, the citizen of India, are responsible for each and every act of the Government because a Government is nothing but a representative of it’s citizens and is made by their choice only.
MLA's and MP's are elected by us only and that’s why we cannot blame on the Government. Despite knowing that there is no suitable candidate who deserves to be elected as an MLA or MP, we cast our Vote in favour of a particular candidate as we think that we don’t have any other option or we prefer not to cast our vote without recording our decision that could record atleast the level of frustration while we don’t know that we have a very strong tool in our hand, given to us by the constitution of India, and it is Rule 49-O in The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 of India, which governs elections in the country. It describes the procedure to be followed when a valid voter decides not to cast his vote, and decides to record this fact. If we want to cast our vote but we are frustrated with the system and we do not see any candidate suitable to be elected, then we can quantify the level of our frustration and it can become a handy data in the hand of the citizens of India to demand for the option of “None of These” as well in the list of candidates in ballet paper. We can further use RTI to get the count of all the voters who opted for 49-O and if this number is significant enough then the Government will have no option except to think about including one more option of “None of These” in the list of candidates in ballet paper.
Here, I should brief about what 49-O (Elector deciding not to vote) is. It is a rule in “The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961” of India and says that if an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.
It’s myth that if total number of such voters are more than 33% of the total number of voters who casted their vote the election will be cancelled and the candidates cannot be re-considered. The fact is that the decision of such voters will not be counted as they themselves have agreed not to cast their vote but still it can bring a reform.
Currently we do not go for casting our vote and it puts a blames on us that the voters are not bothered about the nation or they couldn’t cast their vote because of some other problem. Our current attitude doesn’t prove that we the citizen of India are actually interested to participate in the building of nation and understand it as our prime responsibility but we are not doing so because of the lack of option and it doesn’t countify our level of frustration.
Opting for this option will atleast make the number of such voters published and if it is large enough, then it will certainly bring a reform.
So, it’s an appeal to all citizens of my nation to go for casting their vote and if they feel that there is no suitable candidate, then do record your frustration by opting for 49-O. It’s very simple and you just need to demand for it from the presiding officer who is bound to do so.
49-O: A Tool To Bring A Reform
ReplyDeleteA reform starts with a change starting from our own attitude and mindset. We’ve always been blaming to the Government and politicians for different issues but who is actually responsible for it is a question to think and analyze. We, the citizen of India, are responsible for each and every act of the Government because a Government is nothing but a representative of it’s citizens and is made by their choice only.
MLA's and MP's are elected by us only and that’s why we cannot blame on the Government. Despite knowing that there is no suitable candidate who deserves to be elected as an MLA or MP, we cast our Vote in favour of a particular candidate as we think that we don’t have any other option or we prefer not to cast our vote without recording our decision that could record atleast the level of frustration while we don’t know that we have a very strong tool in our hand, given to us by the constitution of India, and it is Rule 49-O in The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 of India, which governs elections in the country. It describes the procedure to be followed when a valid voter decides not to cast his vote, and decides to record this fact. If we want to cast our vote but we are frustrated with the system and we do not see any candidate suitable to be elected, then we can quantify the level of our frustration and it can become a handy data in the hand of the citizens of India to demand for the option of “None of These” as well in the list of candidates in ballet paper.
We can further use RTI to get the count of all the voters who opted for 49-O and if this number is significant enough then the Government will have no option except to think about including one more option of “None of These” in the list of candidates in ballet paper.
Here, I should brief about what 49-O (Elector deciding not to vote) is. It is a rule in “The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961” of India and says that if an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.
It’s myth that if total number of such voters are more than 33% of the total number of voters who casted their vote the election will be cancelled and the candidates cannot be re-considered. The fact is that the decision of such voters will not be counted as they themselves have agreed not to cast their vote but still it can bring a reform.
Currently we do not go for casting our vote and it puts a blames on us that the voters are not bothered about the nation or they couldn’t cast their vote because of some other problem. Our current attitude doesn’t prove that we the citizen of India are actually interested to participate in the building of nation and understand it as our prime responsibility but we are not doing so because of the lack of option and it doesn’t countify our level of frustration.
Opting for this option will atleast make the number of such voters published and if it is large enough, then it will certainly bring a reform.
So, it’s an appeal to all citizens of my nation to go for casting their vote and if they feel that there is no suitable candidate, then do record your frustration by opting for 49-O. It’s very simple and you just need to demand for it from the presiding officer who is bound to do so.
Jai Hind!