[Marxistindia] Sitaram writes to CEC: Scrap MoUs signed by Gujarat EC with industrial units to monitor electoral participation of workforce.

[news from the cpi(m)]

October 19, 2022

Press Release

 

Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist),
has written the following letter to the Chief Election Commissioner,
Election Commission of India demanding scrapping of MOUs signed by Gujarat
Election Commissioner with industrial units to monitor electoral
participation of the workforce. We are herewith releasing the text of the
letter for publication.

 

(Muralidharan)

For CPI(M) Central Committee office

 

Sir,

This is to draw you attention to the extremely shocking news report that
"for the first time, over 1,000 corporate houses in Gujarat have signed
agreements with the Election Commission (EC), undertaking to monitor
'electoral participation of their workforce' and publish the names of those
who don't vote on their websites or office notice boards......The MoUs have
been signed with individual units as well as industry bodies, and the
attempt to get more on board will continue till polling day. Assembly
elections are due in the state later this year". (
<https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/gujarat-firms-sign-mou-w
ith-election-commission-to-name-shame-workers-who-dont-vote-8214689/>
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/gujarat-firms-sign-mou-wi
th-election-commission-to-name-shame-workers-who-dont-vote-8214689/)

We strongly feel that this is nothing short of  being outrageous. The EC has
claimed that it is an attempt to address voter apathy, but the fact is that
the move to name and shame those who do not vote is a coercive step towards
compulsory voting. The report actually quotes Gujarat Chief Electoral
Officer-"We have signed 233 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) that will
help us enforce the guidelines of the Election Commission. For the first
time in Gujarat, we will be monitoring the electoral participation of the
workforce belonging to 1,017 industrial units."

It is unfortunate that we have to remind you that right to vote is
guaranteed by the Constitution of India under Article 326.

Let us also remind you that in dealing with the mandatory voting right, the
Supreme Court had asked the Centre to file a response. Response filed in
2015 by the Union Minister for Law and Justice had stated that if a regime
of compulsory voting is introduced, it could result in the creation of an
undemocratic environment in the country. The Union Government also contended
that right to vote also included the right to not to vote. In its
submission, the Union Government had also quoted the Law Commission report
on electoral reforms stating that the Commission had noted that the right to
vote cannot be imposed as a fundamental duty.

The current move by the EC of involving corporates in enforcing the right to
vote as a fundamental duty is outright unconstitutional. Apart from this it
further involves the corporates in the conduct of the elections  in an
already controversial background of anonymous corporate funding through
Electoral Bonds. Further, in the current EVM machine counting process the
earlier practice of mixing the ballot papers no longer exists in practice.
EVM counting gives transparently the coting pattern of each booth. This
makes the workers being verified by this process of corporate supervision
very vulnerable to intimidation and vindictive action. This makes a mockery
of the secret ballot. 

We would, therefore, urge the Election Commission to set all controversy to
rest by scrapping this reported move.

With regards,

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Sd/-

(Sitaram Yechury)

General Secretary

 

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