The Supreme Court decision on Monday giving a green signal to NRIs across the global to vote for Indian elections, has come out as a pleasant New Year gift for Punjabi NRIs. Now, instead of physically casting their ballot, the Indian overseas diaspora can do so online. The court has accepted the EC report and has asked the Government to start the process for finalising NRI online voting after concurrence with the relevant Ministries and also to see whether fresh amendment in the RPA Act is required in this regard. The court has given 8 weeks’ time to the Government. This is going to greatly influence several of the constituencies during elections.
For london-based Nagender Chindam, Chairman of Pravasi Bharat, who filed the original petition in the SC on this issue, it is a long battle which has finally been won. “We are excited after this positive outcome on this case, which could change the dynamics of Indian politics & will be historic in our largest democracy. There are 10 million Indian citizens staying abroad, and with 543 lok Sabha constituencies, this means an astonishing average of 18,000 votes per constituency may get polled from abroad. These additional votes, if polled, will obviously play a crucial role in State and general elections,” he added.
He said, “We are looking forward to vote in the democratic process of our country.” A PIl was originally filed in the Supreme Court by Chindam, against the ‘inherent inequality’ created by Section 20(A) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act which insists on the physical presence of an NRI in his local constituency at the time of voting. In the previous hearing, the SC had asked the Centre to make its stand clear on the Election Commission’s proposal for allowing NRIs to cast their votes through proxy voting and e-ballots in polls in India.
There are approximately 10 million Indian citizens currently reside outside their home country (as per MOIA estimation). Due to the ‘Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2010’, they are eligible to vote in Indian elections. The only issue is that they have to be present in their respective constituencies on Election Day to vote.
NRI’s have been restricted owing to the existing archaic law which allows an NRI to cast his vote only if he is physically present in his constituency. In an age of internet and fast connectivity this obsolete law which requires monetary and physical effort has discouraged and restricted many NRIs from casting their ballot.