Indian Constitution Puts Power in the Hands of Its Citizens

Democracy is for the people, by the people, and of the people. Unfortunately, in India, Democracy has been far from the people, buying the people, and off the people. India is not only the largest democratic country in the world but also a country with so many different cultures existing in harmony with each other showing the world how one can live in harmony with others irrespective of their religion, race, caste, creed, sect, etc. People of India are a wonderful lot but the self-proclaimed leaders/ politicians of India have been letting them down for the past 60 years since India got Independence after a long-drawn struggle by Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in Non-violence. According to the written constitution, India should ideally go to elections after every 5 years. But, Indian politicians have been making mockery of the democratic principles of the nation and have been only concentrating on making money during their 5-year stint at the public office instead of serving the common people who voted them to power. Once voted to power, politicians have been forgetting the same people, who elected them as their representatives to solve the problems they have been facing, for years, in their constituency.

Hoping that this kind of situation will emerge in future, the authors of Indian constitution have provided a democratic weapon to the Indian people in the form of 49 (O), which allows its citizens to not only stop the culprit politicians from occupying the seats of power from time-to-time without serving the public but also cancel the contested election!

Hey Indian citizens! Do you all aware that 49 (O) of Indian constitution allows you NOT TO RECORD your vote? If you are not interested in anyone of the contesting candidates, you can still go to the polling booth, confirm your identity, get your finger marked and then tell the Presiding Officer that you do not want to register your vote instead of electing and voting for a particular candidate in the usual way. Indian Constitution has provided a provision for this under the Act of 1969. This Act allows you to protest against the candidates, who are contesting the elections in a noble, official, and efficient way. You can use 49 (O) as a weapon to stop the useless, illiterate, corrupt, and criminal background people from entering the Indian polity through contesting from small posts like Ward Councilor to prestigious positions in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Assembly, etc.

Yes! It is true that you can stop the candidate, whom you do not want to represent your constituency, instead forcibly made your representative by the respective political parties as your representative, from contesting the election. Following is the exact procedure to be followed by both the voter and the Presiding Officer, in case, if the voter decides NOT TO VOTE. Excerpt taken from the Election Commission of India's "Handbook for Candidates" PDF for your convenience: 49O. Elector deciding not to vote. - If an elector after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49I., deciding not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form-17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

Using this 49 (O) weapon, you can force the candidates to stop them from contesting the re-election. If the people, who are disgruntled and frustrated with the present contestants are more in number than the regular voters who are willing to vote in a particular constituency, then this disgruntled and frustrated lot can bring drastic changes by opting for "NOT TO VOTE". This kind of action from you will force the political parties to think before fielding their culprit and non-efficient candidates, who have been made a habit of sucking money out of the public purse to serve their personal needs instead of public needs. Not only that, after facing the rebuff from the people regarding the candidates they have fielded, political parties will also be forced to stop making irresponsible claims and unaccountable promises, which usually they do during elections time as part of their vote gimmicks. If you exercise your "NOT TO VOTE" option, then, the Election Commission will be forced to dissolve the election, provided if the number of "NOT TO VOTEs" are more compared to the number of regular votes garnered by the winning candidate. Since people have already expressed their verdict against the candidate, it will also become the duty of the Election Commission to stop all the contesting candidates from re-contesting. So, the old contestants are not allowed to re-contest during the re-election. This way, you can elect your representative whom you think is most capable, efficient, and who can really take care of your needs and requirements.

Best of Luck!