Ahmedabad:
Voting will be compulsory in local body elections in Gujarat after the state governor today cleared legislation that was championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill, 2009, makes voting mandatory in local body elections and also reserves half the seats for women.
This means, if anyone does not have a strong reason for not voting, they may be declared a defaulter and penalized.
The bill also allows a voter to reject all candidates by using the "None of The Above" or NOTA option.
Elections to local bodies including municipal corporations are due by October next year.
The Bill was passed by the Gujarat assembly in 2009 but then Governor Kamla Beniwal sent it back saying it violated the Constitution.
The government headed by Mr Modi, then Chief Minister, again pushed the bill in 2011 and the state assembly passed it without changes, but the governor did not clear it. Ms Beniwal's successor OP Kohli cleared the bill recently.
The state government had said the bill is necessary to increase voter interest towards the polling process.