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‘Right to Recall’ Reform Experience in Madhya Pradesh
The “Right to Recall” has been often seen as a way to make elected representatives more accountable to voters. However, the experience of the reform in local bodies in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been in force since 2000, has revealed how, in its present form, it could be vulnerable to political opportunism and arbitrariness of process.
The “Right to Recall” (RTR) had been perceived as a suitable solution to enhance accountability among elected representatives, as it allows voters to seek re-election of the representative before the scheduled end of tenure of the incumbent. To give one example, voter surveys have found support for the reform to be applied nationally in legislative assemblies and Parliament, with a higher degree of support among the urban and literate youth than others (Sardesai 2014). To assess whether this perception was justified, research was undertaken to record the experience of RTR where it was provided at the municipal levels in various states of the country (Table 1).
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