NDA moves EC, says abstention call unconstitutional

Senior BJP leader L K Advani led an NDA delegation, comprising party leaders Arun Jaitley, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra

Senior BJP leader L K Advani led an NDA delegation, comprising party leaders Arun Jaitley, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, S S Ahluwalia and Sushma Swaraj, Digvijay Singh of the JD(U) and alliance convener George Fernandes, to the Election Commission asking it to clarify whether a political party can issue directions to its members to abstain from voting in the presidential poll. The move came in the wake of UNPA’s decision to abstain from voting in the upcoming presidential polls.

Without naming the UNPA , Advani’s letter said it appears that some elected representatives are willing to cast their votes but

are being prevented from doing so by their respective political parties, which want its members to abstain.

Advani said the decision to abstain is a wilful and deliberate refusal by an elected legislator to represent his constituents in their right to elect the President of India through him and it amounts to failure by an elected representative to discharge his constitutional function in electing the head of state.

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Stating that a member of a political party who breaches this decision could be liable for disciplinary action within his political party and also under the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, the letter said there is a clear conflict between the constitutional obligation of each member to represent his constituents and his political responsibility to accept the discipline of his party even if it is contrary to the Constitution.

Asking the EC to clarify the position in this regard, the letter read: “It may be clarified that any decision or direction of a political party to its MPs or MLAs to abstain from casting and performing the constitutional obligation to vote in the elections would be unconstitutional and an MP and MLA is entitled to ignore the same. The Election Commission of India may, therefore, consider passing appropriate order(s) under Article 324 of the Constitution restraining political parties from issuing any direction to its MPs/MLAs to abstain from voting in the upcoming presidential elections.”

After submitting the petition, Advani said he had been told that the Election Commission would discuss the NDA’s petition.

Katara granted parole to vote

New Delhi: Suspended BJP MP Babubhai Katara, accused in human trafficking case, was on Monday granted parole by a Delhi Court to cast his vote in the coming presidential and vice-presidential polls.

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The BJP MP has been granted parole for July 19 and August 10. However, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kamini Lau refused to grant him interim bail.