Senior Congress leader P C Chacko on Tuesday said that the Gujarat Government's decision to make voting mandatory should not be imposed legally.
"This rule should not be imposed legally. Nothing compulsory is possible in our system. Making people conscious of their rights and persuading all citizens to vote is the right thing to do," said Chacko.
Yesterday, Gujarat Governor O P Kohli signed the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, making Gujarat the first state to practice compulsory voting in elections by local bodies.
According to the Bill, any citizen failing to vote during local body polls is liable for punishment and might also be penalized.
The bill which had been passed twice by the state government under the leadership of former Gujarat chief minister and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi also calls for 50 per cent reservation for women in the institutions of local self-governance.