Mahatma Gandhi on Right to Vote, Voter ID Card and Duties and Responsibilities of Voters

          At a time when the whole of India is in the midst of election campaign it is important to reflect on the ideas of  Gandhi to defend the rights of Indians to exercise their franchise, get a voter ID card and create a responsible electorate

           We all know that Mahatma Gandhi launched his first Satyagraha in South Africa on 9/11, 1906  for the cause of the rights and dignity of Indians who suffered exclusion and deprivation under the white British regime in that country. In fact initially he did not stay there to launch his first Satyagraha. After  providing legal services to his client and settling his disputes out of court he was supposed to have come back from South Africa to India. A  meeting was organized to bid him farewell and in that meeting he was shocked to see a news item in a local daily that  the right to vote of Indians of South Africa would be withdrawn by  a legislation. He drew the attention of all those who organized the farewell meeting to the news item and told them that progressively all their rights had been withdrawn and if the right to vote would be withdrawn  they would be reduced to nothing. The organizers of the farewell meeting, most of whom were business people,  were ignorant of such a news item concerning withdrawal of voting right of Indians. They simply told Gandhi that they read newspapers to find out commodity prices and were hardly concerned about their rights. Gandhiji told them that without voting right they would be treated badly by the whites and their   voices would not be heard. When they asked Gandhi as to what measures should be taken to counter it he  told that they should fight against it.  The business people then asked Gandhi to stay back and fight for them. He agreed to do so and the meeting organized to bid farewell to him eventually became a forum to discuss the measures to fight for and defend the right to vote of Indians in South Africa. Thus his fight for right to vote of Indians in South Africa preceded his first Satyagraha.

Gandhi wanted adult suffrage and voting age to be fixed at 18

          Gandhi, thus, defended, the right to vote of Indians right since the early part of the twentieth century when there was no universal franchise and Indian leadership was  running from pillar to post for getting the basic political rights and introduction of representative institutions in our country. In fact the Congress Constitution he drafted in March 1921 brought out his vision for universal suffrage. He wrote in it, "It establishes an adult suffrage open to men and women..." and  "We must aim at enlisting every adult member of every family".  He further added by asserting,  "It should be our boast to have as many women as men on our registers" and  "We should have all the Mussulmans, all the castes, all the artisans, and all the pariahs, whom we can induce to come to our register". Then he confidently affirmed that, "It will then become a most democratic register of voters that the world can show".  

          All such pronouncements of Gandhi concerning right to vote  and universal suffrage assumes critical significance at a time when India is conducting general elections to elect representatives for Lok Sabha and there are complaints that minorities, Dalits and several other citizens do not figure in the electoral lists in several parts of the country. In fact as early as 1931 he suggested that voting age should be either 21 or 18 years. The voting age in India was fixed at 21 years after independence and it was reduced to 18 years by the Rajiv Gandhi Government in late  1988. We find the imprint of Mahatma Gandhi's vision and values in the democratic framework adopted for governance based on people's mandate.

What the voters should do?

          It is fascinating to note that Gandhi while fighting for universal adult suffrage and defending the rights of citizens to vote pleaded for responsibilities and duties of voters. This he did a year before demanding right to vote for all citizens. In an article written by him on the theme, "What should the voters do?"  on 16th March 1920 in Navjivan he raised certain issues which are extremely valid for India of twenty first century. Noting with regret that electors while exercising the municipal franchise have not always acquitted themselves in a wise manner he wrote, "Electors’ private relations with the candidates have often weighed with them more than the candidates’ qualifications." He then suggested, "voters should not identify themselves with any party or its quarrels. They should consider candidates’ views and not their party. Their character should weigh more  than their views. A man of character will make himself worthy of any position he is given. Even his mistakes will not much matter. I consider it impossible for a man without character to do higher national service so that if I were a voter, from among the list I would first select men of character and then I would understand their views."

          The absence of men and women of characters in the legislatures of our country reminds the voters of India of twenty first century to chose representatives with due care by taking into account their worth which includes their probity and integrity.

Questions to the candidates

          Mahatma Gandhi wanted voters to ask the candidates certain questions before casting their votes in their favour. Those questions not only reflected the spirit and temper of 1920 but also are of deeper and abiding significance for our own time marked by emergence of majoritarianism and polarising tendencies in politics and public life. There were four questions and it is worthwhile to mention those for getting better historical perspective and depth.

1) "Do you approve of the present swadeshi movement? If so, are you prepared to levy heavy import duties on foreign cloth? Will you favour legislation for cheapening the materials and machinery required to produce swadeshi articles?

2) Do you hold that all the affairs of a province should be conducted in its own vernacular and that the affairs of the nation should be conducted in Hindustani—a combination of Hindi and Urdu?

3) Do you hold that the present division of the provinces of India was made for administrative and political purposes and that no regard was paid to the people’s wishes?... will you try to bring out a redistribution on a linguistic basis as early as possible?

4) Do you hold that there is not the remotest likelihood of India’s regeneration without Hindu-Muslim unity? And if you think so, are you, if a Hindu, willing to help the Mussulmans in all legitimate ways in their trouble?"

          Those questions were not exhaustive but illustrative and Gandhi wrote that "If the electors do not see any significance in these questions, they may put others which they consider to be of greater importance for the upliftment of the nation".

Voters should vote those who believe in Hindu-Muslim Unity

          It is illuminating that the fourth question concerning Hindu-Muslim unity as a precondition for national regeneration and  the duty of a Hindu to help Muslims in all legitimate ways in their trouble is so relevant for our time when Muslims in India are targeted in the name of beef, love jihad and their very faith. In fact what Gandhi wanted was an inclusive politics  embracing the other and putting an end to exclusion.

          What lessons those questions offer to the electorate of India in twenty first century for  casting votes in the general elections being conducted now. We need to ask questions on basic issues and  answers to those questions should determine the voting pattern of the voters. In fact he wanted an independent electorate free from all influences. It is worthwhile to quote his exact words. He wrote, "My attempt is to point out that we need an electorate which is impartial, independent and intelligent. If the electors do not interest themselves in national affairs and remain unconcerned with what goes on in their midst, and if they elect men with whom they have private relations or whose aid they need for themselves, this state of things can do no good to the country; on the contrary, it will be harmful." Wise words articulated in 1920 assumes deeper significance for 2019 general elections and beyond.

          Gandhi even suggested that if the electors or voters did not get satisfactory answers to their questions from the candidates contesting elections then could abstain from voting as "In such a case abstention amounts to an exercise of one’s vote." The NOTA (None of the Above) provision in our present day election system corresponds to Gandhi's suggestion of 1920.

          The concluding observation of Gandhi in his article ""What should the voters do?"  are worth noting to address the challenges we confront now. He wrote, "In a growing nation people are able to understand the national affairs and they are expected to purify the political atmosphere they live in and to maintain its purity. All enlightened and thoughtful voters will find that occasionally situations must arise when they will have to purposely refuse to register their votes. I earnestly hope that on such occasions our electors will have courage to do so. I hope that when they do exercise the vote they will give it to the best man no matter to which party he belongs." Today when purity of electoral process has been vitiated it is the voters who should act in a wise manner to salvage its integrity to the extent possible.

Gandhi suggested Voter ID card in 1939

          In the last week of January 1939 when elections were organised to elect Tripuri Congress delegates some of the voters who came to vote found to their dismay that someone else had cast their votes and they reported the matter to Mahatma Gandhi. With pain and anguish Gandhiji wrote an article under the caption "Internal Decay" in the Harijan and described the impersonation in voting as a form of corruption. The voters when suggested Gandhi that everyone who was entitled to vote should carry membership card of the Indian National Congress  Gandhiji  opined that every voter should produce an identification card before exercising the vote. He gave that opinion to prevent what he called "Internal Decay" which he described as a form of corruption. In fact in India the identification card for voters was introduced by Chief Election Commissioner Shri T N Seshan in 1990s. Today the voter ID card is a precious document establishing the identity of the Indian citizen. What was suggested by Gandhi in 1939 became a reality in late 1990s and of course when it was done none remembered him. It is, therefore, important to unearth ideas from Mahatma Gandhi's Collected Works and get insights which are of contemporary relevance. In this sense Gandhi is of enduring significance.

Shri Sahu served as OSD and Press Secretary to President of India late Shri K R Narayanan and had a tenure as Director in Prime Minister’s Office and Joint Secretary in Rajya Sabha Secretariat.