'Voting must be made a compulsory exercise'

Jaipur, Nov 25: Expressing concern over the steadily decreasing number of voters in elections, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat today suggested making voting a 'compulsory exercise'.

Whle inaugurating the sixth All India Conference of State Election Commissioners at the Harishchandra Mathur Public Administration Institute here, Mr Shekhawat suggested that the Commission should inquire into the reasons for steadily declining ratio of the voters in most elections and find a solution to this problem so that elections can truly represent the choice of the common man.

He said the proposal to make elections compulsory has been mooted on several occasions and there is a need to debate on this issue.

To overcome the problems of caste-based politics, increasing use of money and muscle power during the election process he suggested that elections of Panchayati Raj units at state and district levels should be conducted at the same time as that of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.

Saying the election results are a referendum on the national issues, Mr Shekhawat asked the Election Commission to work out a strategy to make voters come out and vote for or against the important issues of the time.

UNI