‘My vote is not for sale’

Assembly Speaker Kageri administers oath to electorates

Mysore/Mysuru: Asserting that electoral reforms are a continuous process, Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri asked the voters to take the pledge ‘My vote is not for sale’ to ensure that they are ruled by a democratically elected Government in the true sense.

He was speaking after inaugurating the interaction programme on the topic ‘The need for reforms in electoral system’ organised jointly by the District Administration and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) at Kalamandira here this morning.

Reiterating the need for launching ‘My vote is not for sale’ campaign, Kageri said that political parties too must take initiatives for carrying out public awareness on the necessity of people to exercise their franchise with responsibility.

‘Youths play a key role in nation’s development. The highly educated, graduate voters, retired persons and elderly citizens should educate and guide the youths in making a perfect choice to represent them in the Assembly, Parliament and all other such Constitutional bodies. The voters must ensure that the best candidate of the lot is elected in a democratic set up. The NOTA (None of the above) option should be exercised only as a last resort,” he said, while advising the youths not to lose any opportunity for exercising their franchise.

Observing that both the young and elderly voters alike should act as watchdogs of Parliamentary system of democracy just as our soldiers are  guarding the country’s  borders, Kageri reiterated that electoral reforms are a continuous process with advancements in science  and technology.

Pointing out that some of the reforms included issuance of Voter ID cards, use of fool-proof EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines), introduction of NOTA and the latest being linking of Voter ID card with Aadhaar card, Kageri recalled that our democratic system is so robust that a person from a lower strata of the society has become the President and a tea-seller, the PM.

Highlighting the achievements of the country post-independence, Kageri said that India has become a global leader now especially after the country came up with COVID vaccine in a short span of time.

“India has  got the G-20 Presidency purely out of its outstanding progress in several fields and sectors. More and more countries are now looking at India for redressal of global and regional problems,” he said.

Maintaining that youths should take pride in Swadeshi movement and global excellence in many fields, the Assembly Speaker opined that the country’s Constitution is one of the very best in the world.

Continuing, Kageri stressed on the need for eliminating, muscle and money power and caste politics in polls.

Noting that apart from politicians and political parties, the four Pillars of our democratic set up — The Judiciary, Legislature, Executive and Media — too should take the blame for deteriorating standards in our electoral system, he however, observed that continuous electoral reforms offer hope for purity of polls in the days to come. He appealed all voters to take part in electoral process without fail.

Kageri later interacted with the audience, which comprised mostly young and first-time voters. He answered several questions on various issues such as reservation in jobs, education and polls, corruption, failing trust in leaders, issuance of party tickets in polls, discrimination and disparity in society and the like. The Assembly Speaker captivated the audience with his crisp and logical answers to the questions during the interaction. MLAs L. Nagendra and Tanveer Sait, Safai Karmachari Commission Chairman Kote M. Shivanna, Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd., Chairman Kautilya Raghu, Mayor Shivakumar, Deputy Mayor Dr. G. Roopa, former MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev, ZP CEO B.R. Poornima, MCC Commissioner G. Lakshikantha Reddy, MCC Dy. Commissioner M.K. Savitha and others were present.