RAJYA
SABHA ELECTIONS AND CROSS VOTING - POLITY
News:
On cross-voting in Rajya
Sabha elections | Explained
What's
in the news?
●
The Rajya Sabha elections in the States of
Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka witnessed cross-voting by MLAs
belonging to different parties.
●
This has once again raised concerns about
the sanctity of the election process.
Rajya
Sabha Elections:
Constitutional
Provision:
●
As per Article 80 of the Constitution, representatives of each State to
the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the elected members of their
Legislative Assembly.
Historical
Backdrop:
●
Before 1998, the outcome of Rajya Sabha
elections were usually a foregone conclusion, as the candidates were nominated
by various parties in accordance to their strength in the Assembly. Hence, they
used to be elected unopposed.
●
However, the June 1998 elections in
Maharashtra saw cross-voting, breaking this tradition
Legal
Provisions:
1.
Open Ballot System:
●
The June 1998 Rajya Sabha elections in
Maharashtra witnessed cross-voting.
●
Hence, in order to rein in the MLAs from
such cross-voting, an amendment to the Representation
of the People Act, 1951 was carried out in 2003.
●
Section
59 of the Act was amended to provide that the voting in
elections to Rajya Sabha shall be through an open ballot.
●
The MLAs
of political parties are required to show their ballot paper to the
authorised agent of their Party.
○
Not showing the ballot paper to the
authorised agent or showing it to anyone else will disqualify the vote.
●
Independent
MLAs
are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.
2.
Tenth Schedule and Rajya Sabha Elections:
●
The 52nd
Constitutional Amendment introduced the anti-defection law through the
Tenth Schedule in 1985.
●
This Schedule provides that a member of a
House of Parliament or State legislature who voluntarily gives up the
membership of their political party or votes against the instructions of their
party in a House are liable for disqualification from such House.
●
This instruction with respect to voting is
issued by the whip of a party.
●
However, the elections to Rajya Sabha are
not treated as a proceeding within the Legislative Assembly.
●
The Election Commission, drawing reference
to Supreme Court judgments, had issued a clarification in July 2017.
●
It specified that the provisions of the
10th Schedule, with respect to voting against the instruction of the party,
will not be applicable for a Rajya Sabha election.
●
Furthermore, political parties cannot
issue any whip to its members for such elections.
Supreme
Court and 10th Schedule:
Kuldip
Nayar versus Union of India (2006):
●
The Supreme Court in Kuldip Nayar versus
Union of India (2006), upheld the system of open ballot for Rajya Sabha
elections.
●
It reasoned that if secrecy becomes a
source for corruption, then transparency has the capacity to remove it.
●
The same court held that an elected MLA of
a political party would not face disqualification under the Tenth Schedule for
voting against their party candidate.
●
He/she may at the most attract
disciplinary action from their political party.