[nukkad] Duty to Vote & Right to criticize

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Maxtough wrote : NOT VOTING IS BEING EXTREMELY IRRESPONSIBLE. IF YOU DON'T
VOTE YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CRITICIZE THE GOVERNMENT OR ITS COMPOSITION YOU
HAVE NOT TAKEN THE FIRST RESPONSIBLE STEP OF FORMING THE GOVERNMENT.
FIRST--FORM THE GOVERNMENT AND THEN YOU MAY PRESENT YOUR OUTBURSTS AGAINST
IT.

As a general principle, I agree with Maxtough. But more often than not, I
find that the list of candidates on the ballot paper does not offer me any
choice but to abstain from voting. Who would you choose if the choice is
between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan? Who would you choose if the choice
is between Laloo Yadav, Sukhram & Jayalalitha?  Rather than putting faith in
one scoundrel, it is better to avoid all scoundrels. Ultimately one of the
scoundrels will win and rule the country but at least my conscience is clear
that I did not have any part in entrusting the country's coffers to
scoundrels. I could not prevent it, but at least I did not offer it to them.


Does my abstinence imply that I lose my right to call a scoundrel a
scoundrel? 

If the system offers me the right and duty to vote with a clear conscience,
I must vote. The present system doesn't. In my view, a very simple step will
go a long way in weeding out at least the criminals from the political
system.

Suppose the Ballot paper gives you one additional choice "None of the
above". Many voters who find the candidates unacceptable will exercise that
choice. If such votes number even 5000 in an Assembly constituency, it is
sufficient to influence the choice of candidates by the Political Parties.
Margin of victory in many constituencies are less than that. I am sure that
the number of voters wanting to express their disapproval of the candidates
will be much more especially in the educated urban centers. Availability of
such a Negative Vote will, hopefully, motivate Political parties to field
candidates with clean image in an attempt to garner the decisive votes which
otherwise would go negative. 

A few years ago, there was a lot of noise about electoral reforms. I
petitioned to the Election Commission demanding the right to express my
negative vote on ballot paper. It is obvious that no political party really
wants electoral reforms.

V.K.Venugopal




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