Well, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh seems to think so. The Indian government has issued a notification to this effect for registration of overseas voters under the Representation of People’s Act (1950). Dr Singh believes this will help them participate in the country’s election process, and in turn help in growth.
But is this a well-thought out move? Especially when India is yet to deal with some fundamental issues when it comes to elections and voting?
A majority of us believe that our duty with elections begins and ends with casting our vote. The fact that we have a duty (not just an option) to engage with our local elected representative isn’t always known. And more so not done. How many of us have met with our local corporator on ward issues rather than personal complaints? It’s a different matter that local corporators aren’t always seen engaging with the public out in the open.
The same applies to Members of Legislative assembly and Members of Parliament.
The practice of making governance a collective effort is still at a nascent stage in India. Very often it’s the residents’ welfare association that does this. And resident welfare associations aren’t present everywhere.
But even before engaging with your elected representative, there comes the all important selection from the list of candidates. Who do we vote for? And on what basis?
For a large majority, the choice is based on the two most prominent political parties in the country – the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Regional parties like the Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and others are of course also big players. And then there are the Independents who people like me probably vote for, more to refrain from voting for any political party.
It is only a recently rising number that actually look at the manifesto of each of the candidates and choose to vote based on the candidate’s background, manifesto and potential. Whether that translates into results is not clearly known always.
Given that we Resident Indians ourselves haven’t not only understood these basics, or choose to ignore them, but also refuse to be a part of this country’s governance system, it raises several questions about how Non-resident Indians are going to help in any way.
‘NRIs cannot be bribed’
Archana Narendar welcomes the government’s move to allow NRI voting. She lives in California in the United States of America. She feels that being allowed to vote will help her make her country better.
Her sentiments are echoed by another resident of the United States, Arathi Vittal. “I think the idea of NRI votes is wonderful. NRIs will track the economic development of their birth country, think more about investing in India and will increase patriotism among NRIs”, feels this New Jersey resident.
When asked how her vote will help in an election, Archana says, “Most NRIs are educated and are capable of making a better judgement. I also believe many NRIs want to improve their homeland and would make judgements on that interest.”
Kalpana Ananthashekhar, a resident of Alabama in the US says her vote would help in electing the deserved candidate if everyone made the “right choice”. And Arathi feels NRI voters cannot be bribed and that their votes will be well-informed and researched.
What about the Non-Returning Indian?
So now the NRI can vote. Next month, elections in UP. On what basis will he cast his vote? Fine, we’ll let him vote. But how is he going to benefit from voting when he does not even live in that constituency? Political parties gain because they may get a couple of extra votes. But what else? It’s unlikely to make or break an election.
How many NRIs when living in India, actually voted (if they were 18 or above and witnessed an election)?
Will an NRI living in Pennsylvania engage with his local MLA in the Shantinagar assembly constituency in Bangalore?
The NRI voting does not allow for those who have received citizenship of a different country to vote. It ideally allows those who have gone abroad for education, employment or some other reason, even if for more than six months at a stretch. Here is the notification issued by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs http://moia.gov.in/writereaddata/pdf/notificiation_nri.pdf
Very often it is unclear if a person who leaves the country will return. Leaving aside the formalities that they require in terms of documentation including visas et al, there are many who are living abroad for many years without citizenship of that country.
There is also no indication if they will ever return to India. So technically they are still NRIs. So if you have stayed out of India for more than six months at a stretch, you will still be allowed to vote. Whether there is a cap for the other end of the spectrum, isn’t very clear still.
There are said to be 11 million NRIs. How many of them, when they leave India, believe or know that they are going to return?
When there is a cloud of uncertainty over this, why is the Union government looking to tap in on their votes?
Why is their vote so essential?
