Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
India

NRI Should Vote In Panchayat, Municipal Polls: Congress

IANS, 15 Jun, 2015 10:24 AM
    NRIs can participate in democracy in the true sense only after they are allowed to vote in grassroots elections to representative bodies like panchayat and municipalities, Congress Goa unit president Luizinho Faleiro said on Monday.
     
    Faleiro's statement came at a time the union law ministry is examining a legal proposal submitted to it by the Election Commission to allow Non-Resident Indians to vote in the state and general elections by proxy voting and using e-ballot facilities.
     
    "Only by participation in grassroots elections like the ones to panchayat bodies and municipalities can NRIs be truly assimilated in the electoral process of our country," Faleiro told a press conference here.
     
    Faleiro, a member of the Congress Working Committee, his party's highest decision-making body, also said the party was in the process of filing a public interest litigation to enable NRI Goans to vote in local elections.
     
    He said there were around 2.5 lakh NRI Goans residing in the Gulf region and another approximately 2.5 lakh NRIs from the state who were settled across the globe, mostly in Canada, Portugal, England, France and some African countries.
     
    Addition of these NRI votes to the existing 10 lakh-odd existing vote base in Goa would change the manner in which politics, governance and elections are conducted, he said.
     
    "The NRIs in many ways are more aware of what's happening in the state than we are and are more eager for things to change for the better," Faleiro said.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Maggi Noodles Controversy: Banned In Kerala, Delhi Govt Finds The 2-Minute Noodle Unsafe

    Maggi Noodles Controversy: Banned In Kerala, Delhi Govt Finds The 2-Minute Noodle Unsafe
    The development came as a Bihar court directed the authorities to file a first information report (FIR) against Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit, who are brand ambassadors of Maggi.

    Maggi Noodles Controversy: Banned In Kerala, Delhi Govt Finds The 2-Minute Noodle Unsafe

    India Confused About Policy On Pakistan: Kargil Martyr's Father

    India Confused About Policy On Pakistan: Kargil Martyr's Father
    Feeling let down by the successive Indian governments, the father of Captain Saurabh Kalia is now pinning hopes on the Supreme Court. Saurabh was the first to report Pakistani incursion in Kargil in 1999. 

    India Confused About Policy On Pakistan: Kargil Martyr's Father

    More Tests On Maggi, Wrong Ads Can Penalise Even Brand Endorsers

    More Tests On Maggi, Wrong Ads Can Penalise Even Brand Endorsers
    The food safety watchdog has taken more samples of Maggi noodles across India for testing after certain harmful substances were allegedly found in a batch in quantities higher-than-permissible-limits

    More Tests On Maggi, Wrong Ads Can Penalise Even Brand Endorsers

    No Talks With Pakistan; Welcome A Proactive PM: Sushma Swaraj

    No Talks With Pakistan; Welcome A Proactive PM: Sushma Swaraj
    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday denied any "flip-flop" in India's policy towards Pakistan and said no talks can be held as long as Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was walking free.

    No Talks With Pakistan; Welcome A Proactive PM: Sushma Swaraj

    Aruna Shanbaug Rape Accused Sohan Lal Living A 'Normal' Life In A UP Village

    Aruna Shanbaug Rape Accused Sohan Lal Living A 'Normal' Life In A UP Village
    Villagers say they were aghast to know of the crime that Sohan Lal had committed as they found him to be "very normal" and rather well behaved. 

    Aruna Shanbaug Rape Accused Sohan Lal Living A 'Normal' Life In A UP Village

    AAP Youth Wing Protests Ban On IIT-Madras Students Group

    AAP Youth Wing Protests Ban On IIT-Madras Students Group
     The AAP's youth and students wings on Saturday protested in the capital over the alleged banning of a student group at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras for distributing controversial pamphlets.

    AAP Youth Wing Protests Ban On IIT-Madras Students Group