If voters can HIRE a neta, they should be able to FIRE the neta too.
If Indian voters have the Right to Elect, they should have the ‘RIGHT TO RECALL’ too.
New Delhi: Right to Recall is a mechanism that empowers voters to de-elect an elected representative, before their term ends, if they fail to discharge their duties. If we can impeach the President, the Vice President and judges, and move a no confidence motion against an elected government mid term, then why should voters be forced to tolerate a non performing MP or MLA for five full years.
Five years is too long. There is no profession where you underperform for five years with zero consequences. More than 24 democracies in the world such as the United States, Switzerland etc. provide arecall or voter initiated removal mechanisms in some form. If Indian voters have the right to elect, they should have the right to recall too.
However, there should be safeguards to prevent misuse: Threshold – At least 35 to 40 percent voters should back a recall trigger through a verified petition before any recall vote is held
Cooling period – A minimum 18 month lock in after election so the representative has
time to deliver and cannot be targeted immediately after winning
Clear grounds – Recall only for proven misconduct, fraud, corruption or serious neglect of duty, not everyday political disagreements
Final test – Recall succeeds only if more than 50 percent voters support removal in the recall vote
This is Citizen Empowerment. It will push parties to field performers, reduce corruption, and bring democracy back to accountability.
Voters have the right to vote someone into office and they should have the right to vote them out of office too.
