Right to Recall

Note Indian election commission rules do not have a provision for the “Right to Recall” at the moment.

The Right to Recall is a provision by which citizens can dismiss the elected officials. Voters vote for their candidates(Netas) in their respective constituency during the election. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes wins the Election and he is declared as the Elected official of the constituency. This Elected official now holds an office. The Elected official can be a MP (Member of Parliament) or a MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) or a Councillor of the Municipality.

The Right to Recall relies on the concept that if the citizens are empowered to elect their representatives, they should also be empowered to recall the same Elected representative. The Citizens can recall the Elected official(Netas) on various grounds. For example, if the citizens feel that the MP/MLA has failed to represent the constituency or if the citizens feel that the MP/MLA has failed to serve the constituency etc. the Right to Reject provision can be invoked.

How does it work ?

Step1 A percentage of citizens can sign a petition asking for the referendum(a recall or no recall). This percentage for petition is set to a lower value for example 10%, 12% or 20% of the total number of voters. Step2 A referendum is triggered when the percentage of petition reaches this set percentage (12%, 12% or20% etc.) A referendum is a kind of a vote with only 2 options. The person XYZ should be recalled from the post/office - YES The person XYZ should NOT be recalled from the post/office - NO Step3 If the number of votes for the option “The person XYZ should be recalled from the office” is greater than the “NO” option, the Elected official is recalled from the office. Step4 A recall election may take place to fill up the vacant position. During the recall election, the XYZ person recalled from the office may or may not be allowed to contest the recall election.

Current situation

The candidate who secures the highest number of valid votes polled, irrespective of the percentage of negative/NOTA votes, is declared elected (winner). There is no provision to recall the Elected Official by the voters at the moment. If the Elected Official is a MP or MLA, the general term of the office is of 5 years.

Note Indian election commission rules do not have a provision for the “Right to Recall” at the moment.

Source: VOTE INDIA