2.Voting:

Voting should be made compulsory, with a penalty (not necessarily only financial) for not voting, that is large or effective enough to make voting preferable. A method of remote voting after identification through ‘Aadhar’ must be developed allowing a voter to exercise his/her franchise from anywhere he/she may then be. Since a financial penalty may not be an effective way to motivate people to vote, perhaps the penalty for not voting could be more effective if it is linked to the denial of any Government subsidy, or according a very low priority to any Government service, or charging say 20 percent to 100 percent extra for any Government service which the citizen would seek to get. The threat of such continual inconveniences will overcome the reluctance to participate in the electoral process.

“Voting is the least arduous of a citizen’s duties. He has the prior and harder duty of making up his mind.” – Ralph Barton Perry

“One of the of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors” – Plato

“Ordinary men and women may often feel unmotivated to exert their citizenship (by voting), either because they cannot tell the difference between the different alternatives, or because they have lost faith in the political classes, or because they feel that the really important issues are not in their power to decide.” – Patricio Azcar

Hence, the importance of selecting the right candidate in the most participative way possible and calling for all eligible citizens to vote.

3.Selection of Candidates.

Any citizen of India has the Right to opt to stand/contest in any election in a constituency he/she is eligible in. However, such a Right cannot be an unfettered or absolute fundamental Right. There is also the Right of the people in that constituency to only select a candidate best suited to represent them. Hence, persons alleged or accused of being criminals or, lacking morals or proper character or, appropriate qualifications to be entitled to stand for election, or those who as Shiv Khera says, we would not trust to be guardians of our children; should not be eligible. After all no one can claim that there is no other eligible candidate in the constituency. Such questionable candidates are a source of generating black or unaccounted money and/or muscle power that can be used to distort the election results in their favour. Charges filed in the preceding six months can be exempted, as being perhaps politically motivated. But even in such cases, they should be heard in ‘Special Fast Track Courts’ tasked with deciding thereon within three months. The candidate can then stand for election but confirmation of the election results, should he / she be the winner, should only be done thereafter. If the charges are proven false, then the complainant should be duly punished.

This cannot be considered as any restriction of their fundamental right to due process or justice. If the Armed Forces, a cadre that provides true service to the Nation, can function under a much stricter Code of Justice that calls for even speedier judgements, there can be no reason for potential political candidates to not face a speedy trial in such ‘Special Fast Track Courts’, on the lines of the Armed Forces Tribunals.

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