Total Recall

The last time I read something about the Indian Constitution was in Civics class(actually just before the exam) in school. A few years ago, I came across this thing called 49-O in the Indian constitution that allowed the constituency to "Vote for none of the above". I was unaware of this and found out during the recent elections in Karnataka that there were a lot of people sans this knowledge.

So, is this about 49-O? Nah, thats kinda stale now(to me at least). This one is about the "Right to recall". There is a facility in the Indian Constitution to vote out the elected candidate. This seems like its more out of an episode of MTV Roadies!

Recently, the right to recall the elected representatives was exercised by the electorate of 3 urban bodies in Chattisgarh. Naturally the process involves voting and the options presented to the voters are simply 2 symbols- chairs, two of them, one occupied and the other empty. The symbols are analogous to the expectations. The campaigning in these elections is different too. The elected candidate awaiting a vote out tries to woo voters yet again while the opposition as usual opposes.

But theres a catch. Like a mutual fund's lock in period, the governing body should have completed at least 2 years and more than 3/4th of the elected representatives should demand the recall in writing.

Interesting, though its not a practical option at the highest level of democracy. I would say that the people right at the top of the democratic chain are pretty good. Just the implementation sucks big time. But this can be the solution to really "sort out" and "weed out" the crap at the grass root level. Besides, at the highest level its politics and thats the way it works and should.

Read the article at http://www.indianexpress.com/story/323224.html