Sunday, July 16, 2017

Vote of Conscience

In 1969, when there were elections to the President of India, after then President of India Dr.Zakir Hussain passed away, Congress Party chose Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy as its candidate. But, Indira Gandhi chose V.V.Giri as her candidate. Indira Gandhi asked everyone to vote by conscience and finally, V.V.Giri won with the smallest margin in the presidential elections.

In the book, "The Chinar Leaves: A Political Memoir" by M.L.Fotedar, Fotedar says, he suggested then Chief Minister of Kashmir to ask the MLAs to vote openly. The Chief Minister told the MLAs that, after voting they should show the vote to Fotedar. If anyone does not show their vote, they would assume that, they did not vote for V.V.Giri. Only five MLAs did not show their vote to Fotedar.

And for decades after that, followers of Indira Gandhi says, her candidate won the elections by "Vote of Conscience".