New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday challenged in Supreme Court (SC) the Election Commission’s (EC) recent notification allowing ‘None of the Above’ (Nota) option in August’s eight Gujarat Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) election.
The party said there was no legal sanction behind introducing Nota in Rajya Sabha (RS) polls.
“The government has no constitutional backing or support of a statute. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to win Gujarat Rajya Sabha election using ‘saam, daam, dand, bhed’ [by hook or crook]. But the truth will win. Our senior leader, Ahmed Patel, will win. Congress earlier fought the white British, it is now win against the dark British,” Congress spokesperson Randeep S Surjewala told media.
The court is likely to hear the matter on Thursday.
Congress also moved EC, demanding that the provision of Nota should not be made in the ballot papers for the elections.
“The use of Nota option during Rajya Sabha elections was contrary to the mandate of the Constitution, the Representation of People’s Act, the conduct of election rules as also judgement of the Supreme Court,” the party said in its petition to EC.
The petition, moved by senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari, said Nota in indirect elections such as that of RS was in direct conflict with proportional representation system by means of single transferable vote.
“The Election Commission ought not to make applicable the Nota provision in the ballot paper in the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections. The system of Nota makes the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote nugatory and otiose and cannot be made applicable in Rajya Sabha elections,” it added.
Four candidates are in the fray for three RS seats. Apart from BJP president Amit Shah and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, BJP last week fielded Balwantsinh Rajput against lone Congress candidate Patel.
The petition comes in the wake of defections in the party in Gujarat. Accusing BJP of “buying” its leaders, Congress has herded its Gujarat Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to Karnataka with the help of its chief troubleshooter and Karnataka state Energy Minister DK Shivakumar.
Interestingly, Income Tax (IT) officials on Wednesday raided and picked up Shivakumar from a Bengaluru resort where 44 Gujarat Congress lawmakers are staying.
Shivakumar, who has been made in charge of shielding Gujarat MLAs from BJP’s alleged poaching attempts, is being investigated for tax evasion. Both Houses of Parliament saw a logjam on Wednesday, with the Opposition calling raids “a political ploy” by BJP.
“This can’t be a coincidence. It has become a brazen trend to use state power and agencies for political ends, whether it is the Income Tax department or the Central Bureau of Investigation,” Congress leader Anand Sharma said in Rajya Sabha.
Another Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “if this raid is only on a person, then you could have done it a month before, or a month after.”
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley denied any political opportunism behind the raids.
“The use or abuse of power will depend on the nature of what the IT department recovers,” he stated.
