Voting not must: Election Commission
The Election Commission on Tuesday said that the UNPA cannot direct its legislators to abstain from voting in the presidential election. The observation was made quoting Article 171 C of the Constitution.
The NDA had objected to the UNPA’s move to abstain from voting saying large parts of the electorate would remain unrepresented.
In a clarification, the Election Commission said voting in the election to the Office of the President of India was not compulsory like voting in the elections to the House of the People and state legislatures.
“The electoral right of a voter is defined in Section 171A (b) of the Indian Penal Code to ‘mean the right of a person to stand, or not to stand as, or to withdraw from being, a candidate or to vote or refrain from voting at election’. Thus, every elector at the presidential election has the freedom of making a choice to vote for any of the candidates or not to vote at the election, as per his free will and choice,” it said.
It would equally apply to the political parties and they were free to canvass or seek votes of electors for any candidate or requesting or appealing to them to refrain from voting.
‘Let members decide’
“However, the political parties cannot issue any direction or whip to their members to vote in a particular manner or not to vote at the election leaving them with no choice, as that would be tantamount to the offence of undue influence within the meaning of Section 171C of the IPC,” it said.
The commission also said that voting at election to the office of president is different from voting by a member of Parliament or State Legislature inside the House and that, as held by the Supreme Court, the provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India might not apply to the voting at the presidential election.
JD(S), TC MIGHT ABSTAIN
Bangalore/Kolkata, DHNS: The “non-aligned” Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka, which is being wooed by the two groups supporting Pratibha Patil and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat for the presidential post, is likely to abstain from voting during the election scheduled to be held on July 19. JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, who has been authorised by his party to decide on the party’s stand, left for New Delhi on a “request” from the prime minister Manmohan Singh for a meeting. (Details on Page 4)
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TC), too might abstain from the poll, party sources indicated. Sources close to Banerjee indicate she might ask the party legislators and MPs to skip the voting. “We’ll announce our stand after a couple of days and not before that,” Banerjee said. The TC has a strength of 30 legislators and three MPs including Ms Banerjee who are eligible to vote in the presidential election.
According to sources, Banerjee’s ire with the BJP stems from the fact that it was she who urged the BJP to back President A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term.
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