Click to play videoNew Delhi: Voters of three nagar panchayats in Chhattisgarh took out a victory procession recently. No, they hadn’t elected their favourite candidate but voted out a leader they didn’t like.
Chattisgarh has become the second state after Madhya Pradesh to vote out an elected representative by using the Right To Recall. The legislation allows people of a constituency to move the Election Commission and seek a vote of recall.
Voters have two options on the ‘ballot’ paper: an occupied chair or an empty chair. If the majority of voters stamp on the empty chair, elected leaders lose their post.
That’s what happened to Bharti Sonkar, one of the three panchayat leaders who were recalled by their constituency’s voters. Sonkar, who was the panchayat president in Gunderdehi, called the recall a conspiracy against her.
Senior leaders of major political parties seem to agree with what Sonkar thinks about the right to recall. The leaders feared that right could be misused
“It will lead to mobocracy. Those who have muscle and money will throw out elected representatives,” said Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad believes the right to recall would lead to endless elections. “If we let right to recall then there will be elections every year,” he said.
The people of tiny Gunderdehi may have won against leaders they didn’t like but for the Indian voter the right to recall is just a dream.
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