Gandhinagar: Notwithstanding the Governor`s
returning of a bill making voting mandatory in elections to
self-governing bodies, the BJP government in Gujarat will
re-introduce the legislation in the state Assembly tomorrow.
The Gujarat Local Authorities Law (Amendment) Bill, 2009,
making voting mandatory in local self governing bodies, which
was termed as "landmark" by chief minister Narendra Modi was
first passed in the assembly in December 2009.
However, Governor Kamla returned the bill in April 2010
to the government saying that it violates Article 19 of the
Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech and expression.
The main objections cited by the Governor were, the bill
violates Constitutional provision which does not allow voting
to be made mandatory and no punishment can be meted out for
not participating in the exercise of voting.
The two-day assembly session began today. On the first
day, the House was adjourned after paying homage to sitting
Congress MLA Gautam Zala who died recently.
PTI
