A Blog by Ishtpreet Singh of Grade 9 C of St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, Chandigarh who spoke the following article at Morning Assembly on Tuesday, 15th May 2019.

“Bad Officials are elected by Good Citizens who don’t vote”

The topic that I am going to discuss today is “The Importance of Voting in India”.

Voting in India is a constitutional right of every Indian Citizen above 18 years of age. There is a tendency among voters especially in the urban areas to treat the voting day as a day of rest. While skipping voting may not seem to cause any harm but the long term consequences can be disastrous. Here are four reasons why every citizen of India must case his or her vote:-

The First reason is that, ‘It is an Agent of Change’. Voting is an agent of change. If the people of India think that the government of the day is not performing its duties satisfactorily, they can show it the door by voting against it. Abstaining from voting can result in the same party, or a worse one, being elected for the next five years. Perhaps in a country as populous as ours, a voter might feel that a single vote does not make a difference. Little does the voter realize that the balance can tilt when this becomes a national attitude and lakhs or crores of votes are not cast! By casting their votes, citizens may not necessarily be able to get the best candidate elected but they do unknowingly help to improve the chances of unsuitable ones winning the polls. In the end, it is only the voter who gets to suffer through poor governance.

The second reason is that, ‘It is a medium of getting heard’. Voting offers every citizen a medium of expression. It is rightly said, “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain”. In a country as vast and diverse as ours, different regions have different concerns and priorities so the process of voting allows every citizen to have a voice in what he or she feels are important issues and then votes accordingly. While it is true that the outcome of election is seldom predictable, a citizen is giving up on the chance of being heard by not exercising his or her voting right.

The third reason is that, ‘Voting is a responsibility’. Voting is as much a responsibility as it is a right. The whole democratic structure of the Indian State is built on the foundation of voting. If the citizens are not careful about casting their vote or worse, skip their vote altogether (!), it will jeopardize the existence of our nation.

Finally the fourth and the last reason is that, ‘Voting is an honour conferred on the citizens of this country by its Founding Fathers’. It is a way of showing our respect for those who gave up their lives for its freedom. It can’t be denied that some recent incidents in India have raised doubts in our minds whether we are a truly democratic country. For the past several years, India has struggled with rampant corruption, unstable economy and a weak foreign policy. Election after election has given us ineffective governments who came to power and did more harm than good. However, not casting one’s vote will only worsen the condition. It is our duty, as responsible citizens of India, to make informed decisions and choose the best candidate from those presented to us. Moreover, with reforms such as “Right to Reject’ gaining wider support, it won’t be long before the system of elections is improved.

In the end, I request all those who are above 18 years and those not yet eligible to vote to motivate their parents to vote this coming Sunday, the 19th of May because “Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world”.