Parties question NOTA option in Rajya Sabha poll

NEWDELHI:The Congress stalled Parliament’s Upper House on Tuesday and moved theElection Commission against the option of NOTA in the Rajya Sabha polls, saying the provision doesn’t have the constitutional validity for an indirect election.

The Bahuj an Sam aj Party and Samajwadi party too opposed NOTA, short for None of the Above, from ballot papers for the August 8 election.

The option allows voters to reject all candidates in an election. “It vitiates the election ... Constitution has not been amended. Representation of Peoples Act has not been amended. NOTA has been introduced ... Unless Constitution is amended, how can this be done?” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said in the Rajya Sabha.

In a memorandum to the poll panel, the Congress said use of NOTA in indirect elections contradicts the Constitution-mandated system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

Simply put, elected MLAs of legislative assemblies of states and Union territories elect Rajya S ab ha members. Of the 10 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in various states, only Gujarat will record a contest. Gujarat has three vacancies and the ruling B JP has fielded party chief Amit Shah, Union minister Smriti Irani and Congress turncoat Balwantsinh Rajput. Shah and Irani are set to win, given the BJP’s numbers in the assembly.

For the third seat, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel is up against Rajput.