Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri called upon citizens to launch a nationwide campaign to assert that ‘my vote is not for sale’.
“Why should you sell your right to vote? Is it possible to bring in electoral reforms if you sell your votes for money or liquor? People should declare that they will not sell their votes and should become vigilant soldiers of democracy,” Kageri said during an interaction programme on electoral reforms, organised by the district administration, Mangaluru City Corporation, SDM College, district chamber of commerce and others on Friday.
Stressing the need for electoral reforms, he said the morality of the people should be strengthened.
Society should accept taking part in the electoral process as a responsibility. Though hullabaloo over the election has reduced, the expenditure has not come down, he said.
Elections in the state in recent years were ridden with corruption and there is a desperate need for electoral reforms, he added.
"Of late, elections have become all about money, caste and muscle power,” said Kageri.
Not just the Assembly or Parliamentary elections, even the elections to cooperative societies or SDMC are filled with irregularities. Youth being disinterested in the electoral process are among the several reasons why the quality of the process has come down, he felt.
Lauding the Constitution which helped in the effective implementation of democracy in the country, Kageri said, "The preamble of the Constitution is like a soul. The spirit of the preamble should be implemented in its true sense."
He called upon the students to read and understand the preamble and keep a photograph of the preamble in houses.
He urged different organisations working in the social sector to take part in creating awareness about elections, apart from encouraging active participation from youth.
Even political parties are responsible for bringing in reforms in their party in the form of internal democracy and according responsibility to their cadres and so on, he said.
"Though reforms have been introduced in the electoral system, we could not come out with a perfect voters list wherein the name of an individual gets automatically included in the list when he/she attains 18 years of age and gets deleted after his/her death,” he lamented.
When students raised the issue of retirement age for politicians, he said there should be an open discussion on the same at the national level.
On education qualification, he said that education should not become a criteria.
Batting for training for the elected representatives, he said that not many attend such training sessions.
When a student raised the issue of one nation-one election, he said it is essential for the growth of the country.