Compulsory voting no solution for minority vote share of winners

Indian democracy has managed smooth transition of power for decades but there are flaws, like winning candidates getting lesser than majority of vote share, experts said on Tuesday, adding that compulsory voting cannot be a solution.

In a discussion on "Democracy and Electoral Challenges in South Asia", political expert and former dean of the School of Social Sciences, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Zoya Hasan said the fact that the present government came to power with absolute majority getting 30 percent votes raises "some questions".

"It is a majority government with minority share of vote share. The fact that the government got 30 percent of vote share raises some questions. Bulk of the 280 members won without majority vote," Hasan said.

She also pointed out that the ruling party did not have a single Muslim MP in the lower house.

"The ruling party has 280 MPs and not even one from the Muslim community. Twenty percent of Uttar Pradesh's population is Muslim, and there is not one Muslim MP from Uttar Pradesh," she said.

"The number of Muslim MPs is lowest in this Lok Sabha," she added.

Former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, however, ruled out compulsory voting as a remedy.

"If we make voting compulsory, we will have to send notices to all those who do not vote."