Private member bill on compulsory voting; Members divided

Members in Lok Sabha were divided on whether India should make voting compulsory in elections.

Participating in a debate on a private member's bill to make voting compulsory on Friday, Rajiv Pratap Rudy(BJP), B Mahtab(BJD), Rajendra Agarwal(BJP) opposed the idea, while Nihal Chand (BJP) and Jagdambika Pal also of BJP supported the proposal.

In its March 2015 report on electoral reforms, the Law Commission had opposed the idea of compulsory voting, saying it was not practical to implement.

The voter turnout in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls was the highest ever at 66.11 per cent.

It was 1.16 per cent higher than the 65.95 per cent turnout in 2014.

Rudy said it is not logical to say that development will necessarily happen after making voting compulsory in elections.

"100 per cent voting may be dangerous...India is not ready for 100 per cent voting now. So I am not in favour of compulsory voting now,"he said.

Nihal Chand (BJP) favoured compulsory voting in elections and also pointed out that polls in India have become most expensive.

Mahtab said that compulsory voting is a bad idea and it also difficult to enforce.