Date:27/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/27/stories/2006032707630400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

RS polls: `whip not binding on MLAs'

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: With two days to go for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from the State Assembly, a view is being expressed that the political parties will be violating the Representation of the People Act of 1951 if they were to issue a whip to their MLAs to vote for particular candidates.

Taking the stand are the retired district judge and writer Ko. Chennabasappa and the former Minister H.N. Nanje Gowda.

In a statement to the press, Mr. Chennabasappa said if a whip was issued by any party it was not binding on the MLAs.

"Whip operates only within the four walls of the legislature. Therefore, the legislators who ignore the direction cannot be disqualified."

That is the fallout of the anti-defection law written into the Constitution through the Tenth Schedule.

Mr. Chennabasappa said that if the MLAs obeyed the whip, it would directly offend Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.

To direct a legislator to vote for a particular candidate was tantamount to a threat. The role of a legislator in his capacity as a lawmaker was quite different from his role as an elector in an election to the Rajya Sabha or even of the President of India.

An MLA would not be acting as a legislator while voting in the Rajya Sabha election. He was a member of the electoral college of the Rajya Sabha constituency under the provisions of the Representation of People Act. "No authority can direct an elector to cast his vote to any party or person."

Coming out in favour of Dr. Ananthamurthy, writer Devanuru Mahadeva said that his contest had brought meaning to the elections, which was turning out to be a "business."

Mr. Nanje Gowda noted that elections to the Rajya Sabha were conducted by the Election Commission and it was not part of the business of the legislature. A political party could issue a whip under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution in a matter relating to the business of the House. A member could be disqualified if he defied the whip.

Elections to the Rajya Sabha had nothing to do with the business of the House. The MLAs could not be disqualified for going against the whip. Mr. Gowda warned the political parties against directing their MLAs to vote for particular candidates or in a particular way.