Concern was raised today in Rajya Sabha over a move of Gujarat government to make voting compulsory in local bodies, with a nominated member saying the concept was against the spirit of the Constitution.
Making a special mention in the Upper House, KTS Tulsi, an eminent lawyer, said compulsory voting is feasible in smaller countries, but not in a gigantic nation like India.
"If you have a right to vote, you have also the right not to vote," he said, adding it was not practical to introduce the concept in the country.
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He said in the last Lok Sabha elections, 28 crore people did not vote.
Tulsi said punishing people who do not vote would lead to multiple litigations and it should not be done.
In his special mention, Chaudhary Munvvar Saleem (SP) demanded strict action against those who claimed that terrorism is taught in Madrasas, saying these institutions have played important role in the freedom struggle.
He said if the Centre has any information that these were imparting lessons in terror, it should be made public.
T K Rangarajan made a demand to celebrate 'Classical Languages Week' instead of Sanskrit Week. He said apart from Sanskrit there were other classical languages, including Tamil.
JD-U member K C Tyagi raised the issue of cheating home buyers by certain builders through false and misleading advertisements in the NCR region. He demanded probe in the "incidents of duping" buyers by the builders in NCR and strict action against them.