MODI'S MANDATORY VOTING BILL REJECTED

In a setback to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, state Governor Kamla Beniwal has returned a bill seeking to make voting mandatory in the state on the ground that the legislation violates the Constitution. The Governor also objected to the punishment clause for those choosing not to vote. The bill was passed by Gujarat assembly in December 2009. Sources in the state Assembly secretariat said the Governor raised these two main objections while returning the bill. Moreover, the Governor has also noted that the mandatory voting bill be separated from the bill seeking 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies election. The Gujarat government had clubbed together the two bills putting opposition Congress in a dilemma as it had favoured the reservation for women bill but was opposed to the mandatory voting bill.