'Abstention is betrayal of electorate'

NEW DELHI: The NDA on Monday petitioned the Election Commission to declare the call by the UNPA to their elected members to abstain from the July 19 presidential elections as unconstitutional. Going beyond calling the UNPA decision to abstain as unconstitutional, a delegation led by LK Advani said that such a move is a betrayal of the electorate.

“There cannot be a greater betrayal of the electorate than a wilful and deliberate refusal by an elected legislator to represent his constituents/voters in their right to elect the President of India through him. It is a failure by an elected representative to discharge his constitutional function in electing the Head of State.”

The BJP’s protest to the Election Commission was in reaction to the decision by the UNPA to abstain from the July 19 election. Though indications are that the UNPA would not be supporting Mr Shekhawat, the final announcement put paid to any outside chance of the NDA supported candidate giving a credible fight to the UPA nominee. On Saturday, after the UNPA announced its decision, the BJP had made clear its intention to seek the intervention of the Election Commission in the matter.

UNPA comprises eight regional parties, including the AIADMK, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Indian National Lok Dal. The alliance has 1,05,000 votes in the presidential electoral college, of which the SP has the largest share.

In what seems like an allusion to the theme of this year’s presidential election being a ‘vote of conscience’, Mr Advani refers in his letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, to “clear conflict between the constitutional obligation of each member to represent his constituents and his political responsibility to accept the discipline of his political party even if the same is contrary to the Constitution.

It is, therefore, necessary that in its powers of superintendence, direction and control of elections, the Election Commission should step in under Article 324 of the Constitution and clarify the position.”

Urging the Election Commission to step in and issue directives, the BJP has argued that the UNPA’s directive to its legislators not to cast their votes amounts to issuing a whip, which is not allowed in the election to the highest office in the country.

In this contest, Mr Advani in his letter urges, that “it is, therefore, necessary that the Election Commission in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 324 at the pre-election stage itself should step in and clear this doubt that an MP or MLA in the performance of his constitutional obligation under Article 54 and 55 to cast his vote acts purely in his individual capacity as an elected representative and not as a member of a political party.

It may be further clarified that any decision or direction of a political party to its MP’s or MLA’s 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.”

This is the first time that at least half-a-dozen political parties would be abstaining from voting in the presidential poll. A delegation of senior leaders of the BJP-led NDA also met with Election Commission officials on Monday stressing the point that a call for abstaining from the presidential elections tantamount to issuing a whip.