My Right, My Vote

Why NRI voting matters in India's 2019 elections?

Priyanka Mehta Wednesday 16th January 2019 04:42 EST
 
 

The upcoming Parliamentary election in India is perhaps the content for the majority of the political videos and memes that are forwarded to us on WhatsApp groups and FaceBook pages. But as Non Residential Indians (NRIs) staying here in the UK on an Indian passport, how much of a political voice do over 100,000 of us- businessmen, students or even “oversees friends”- have when it boils down to voting for the government that we want, a government that represents us and our interests?

Indo-UK bilateral trade

“Casting our vote is our right and responsibility so that we can elect a progressive government that will ensure a growing economy at the domestic front as well as facilitate UK-India bi-lateral trade,” said Ghanshyam Nabar an NRI based in the UK.

At present NRIs in the UK are eligible to cast their votes in an election if they are registered on the electoral rolls in their constituency. However, the fundamental issue is that it is practically not feasible for them to take a holiday from work, spend roughly £500 on flying back to India, travel to their constituency where they are physically registered just to cast a vote. In a country of 1.2 billion people, some 100,000 votes would hardly shake things but Ghanshyam argues how “my vote may not make a huge impact in deciding which political party forms the government but at least it will be for a candidate who ensures that on a business front India surges ahead.

Reforms such as ‘Make in India’ and even the ease of doing business in India benefits us if a proper government is in place,” he said.

NRI Proxy Voting Bill 

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017 was earlier passed in the Indian Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Parliament) through a voice note. This Bill proposes that overseas Indians, who are entitled to vote in India, could now appoint a proxy voter to cast their votes. In essence, it seeks to give them the option of proxy voting, which till now was only available to service personnel.

 

“NRIs have historically been excluded from India’s democratic process.” said Manoj Ladwa, Founder & CEO, India Inc Group.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, India's Law Minister has now moved this Bill for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha. 

“Unlike citizens of many other countries living abroad (commonly referred to as expats), Indian citizens have not had any practical mechanism to vote in local or national elections apart from having to physically travel to India.

“I am very pleased that the Modi government has taken this historic step to enable Indian citizens abroad to cast their vote. NRIs contribute tremendously to the country’s development in so many ways. It’s only right that they are able to easily exercise their democratic right,” Mr. Ladwa added. 

Nagender Chindam, the man behind Pravasi Bharat

However,this initiative to assimilate the voting rights of the NRIs pushed forward by an NRI IT consultant Nagender Chindam who first came to the UK in 2008.

“This is not a political campaign. It is a rights-based campaign” explained Nagender.

Nagender who founded Pravasi Bharat in 2012 continues to work in the UK on an Indian passport. From writing letters to the Election Commission, going on a 3-day hunger strike and organising a march from the Mahatma Gandhi statue to the Nehru statue in London, Nagender has done what he can to voice the rights of NRIs like him in ensuring their political representation in India. He argues about how there is a system enabling expats of countries such as the UK, Canada, USA and even Lebanon today to cast their votes from different parts of the world. 

“In light of the recent Bills that have been passed in the Parliament we're confident that the NRI Proxy Voting Bill would also be cleared after discussion in the Rajya Sabha.”

And while most of the international Indian diaspora have welcomed the move of establishing a voting system there is scepticism with regards to data leaks and influence of vote in a world of fake news, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook influenced elections amidst other concerns.

Hazards of proxy voting: Data leaks and privacy of information

“We get daily reports about how Russia perhaps meddled into the US elections and maybe also in the Brexit referendum. My primary concern is about data leaks and privacy of information.

As an NRI, how do I know that the person who I have nominated to vote has really voted on my behalf and furthermore casted the vote that I have asked him/her to?” asks Sanam Arora, a strategy consultant and a part-time volunteer for the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK.

Another alternative to the Proxy Voting system suggested by academics is by establishing a postal ballot system wherein elections could be held at the various High Commissions or Indian embassies at different countries so that the NRIs could physically go down to those chosen locations and cast their vote. 

However, at a seminar held at the London School of Economics, former Election Commissioner, Dr. S. Y. Quraishi explained how the High Commission did not have the financial or the human resources to set up physical voting booths on the day of election across different countries and then get those votes to India wherein they can be counted in time of declaration of the results. 

“Casting a vote is both a privilege and a responsibility that we enjoy. If the High Commission of India can be equipped to hold postal ballot then that will perhaps be more re-assuring as opposed to the system of proxy voting,” explained Sanam.

Postal ballot voting, rigging, and influence

 

But postal ballot comes with its own share of problems- the most dominant being that the Election Commission regardless of his efficiency of conducting elections at a national scale cannot monitor the voting procedure out of India as these territories do not fall under his jurisdiction.  

“It can be misused. There are chances of votes being rigged and more importantly if you nominate someone to vote on behalf of you what is to guarantee there is no influence?

The government is using the NRI funds, generating investments, so they should have a system established where they can get the NRIs to vote in a way that there is no fraudulent activity,” said Sudhakar Goud, spokesperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, UK.

But there are two sides to this debate according to Pranav Bhanot, lawyer and one of the key authors of the book, ‘A Living Bridge: The UK-India Diaspora & The Rise of The Millennials’.

“The idea of getting NRIs to vote in the elections will ensure that they have a closer connection with their country.

But at the same time the onus also lies on the political parties as well to ensure that their policies are representative of the interests of the NRIs to get them out on the voting day. If it doesn’t help them in anyway then why will these people vote?” asks Bhanot.

But there is also a risk associated with this concept as there is a possibility that a lot of them are unaware of the domestic policies of the contesting political parties which may lead to un-informed decisions on their part. As of today, official government reports suggest that there are close to 31mn people of the Indian diaspora are as expats in international countries, many of whom fighting for their right to vote. And while the oversees friends of both the BJP or Congress have taken initiatives to call out on the “voluntary support” of NRIs, calling them 'the living-bridge', there is skepticism about the spread of propagandist messages, fake news and misinforming campaigns that might swing and influence people's votes, back in the country as well.


comments powered by Disqus



to the free, weekly Asian Voice email newsletter