Parties Reject Ec Suggestion On Presidential Poll Voting

Most political parties yesterday rejected election commissioner GVG Krishnamurthys opposition to parties issuing whips for presidential and vice-presidential elections and his suggestion for a conscience vote. The Congress was non-committal.

Although Congress spokesman VN Gadgil favoured a consensus approach and said the implications of a conscience vote in a parliamentary system of governance needed to be considered, he refused to commit the party on the issue of whip.

Question of whip arises when there is a contest, he said, adding that he would not like to comment as he was not sure whether there would be a contest. The Communist Party of India (CPI) also favoured wider consultations among all political parties to evolve a consensuson the issue. No single party is in a position to see its candidate through, party general secretary AB Bardhan pointed out. Parliamentary affairs minister Srikanta Jena, while rejecting the suggestion pointed out that the members of the electoral college were free to vote according to their conscience, as a whip has meaning only in case of an open voting.

As voting for these posts are through secret ballots, it would be difficult for political parties to detect who violated the whip, he added.

Jena said he did not find fault with political parties instructing their members to vote for a particular candidate.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) clarified that the partys support for candidates for these two posts would be based on political consideration. No candidate for these offices could be really apolitical, CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.

The BJP argued in favour of a whip saying that parliamentary democracy rests on party basis. How can we allow legislators to defy a decision taken by their senior party members, party spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said.

Krishnamurthys suggestion would destroy the party system as a whip is a big instrument used by political parties.

She criticised Krishnamurthy for airing his view even without taking the commision into confidence.

According to PTI, noted lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani welcomed the suggestion saying it deserved wider debate.