By IANS
New Delhi : Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s argument against the decision of the third front to abstain from Thursday’s presidential voting, the Election Commission Tuesday said it was not compulsory for MPs and MLAs to cast their vote.
“The commission would like to clarify in this context that the voting at election to the office of president of India is not compulsory, like the voting at elections to the House of the People and state legislatures where also there is no compulsion to vote,” the poll panel said in a statement.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) delegation led by senior BJP leader L.K. Advani had sought the poll panel’s intervention to ensure that the MPs and MLAs of the newly formed United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) vote in Thursday’s presidential election.
Pointing out that the definition of the ‘electoral right’ in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) permits a voter to refrain from voting at election, the commission said: “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.
“This will equally apply to the political parties and they are free to canvas or seek votes of electors for any candidate or requesting or appealing to them to refrain from voting,” the statement said.
But the poll panel reiterated that the political parties do not have the powers to 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.
“It would be tantamount to the offence of undue influence within the meaning of section 171C of the IPC,” the panel said.
The Election Commission, which conducts the presidential election, also said the voting by MPs and MLAs in the presidential poll was different from that in the legislative bodies.
It said the voting by the electoral college – MPs and MLAs – cannot attract the penal provisions of the 10th Schedule of the constitution which deals with disqualification of an MP or an MLA on the ground of defection.
The Election Commission clarified that the MPs and MLAs can cast their vote according to their preference.
“The electors of this electoral college vote at the presidential election as members of the said electoral college and the voting at such election is outside the house concerned and not a part of the proceedings of the house,” it said.
The leaders of the ruling Congress, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have expressed strong reservations against Advani’s call for “conscience vote” in favour of the NDA-backed independent candidate Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is pitted against the ruling alliance’s Pratibha Patil.