Countermand Haryana RS election 2016. Announce Re-poll.

Rajya Sabha came into existence thanks to an extensive debate in the Constituent Assembly. It was decided to have a bicameral legislature for independent India mainly because a federal system was considered to be most feasible form of Government for such a vast country with immense diversities. A single directly elected House, in fact, was considered inadequate to meet the challenges before free India. A second chamber known as the ‘Council of States’, therefore, was created with altogether different composition and method of election from that of the directly elected House of the People. It was conceived as another Chamber, with smaller membership than the Lok Sabha. It was meant to be the federal chamber i.e., a House elected by the elected members of Assemblies of the States and two Union Territories in which States were not given equal representation.

In effect the Rajya Sabha is meant to be the House of elders, a reflection of India's federal structure. The state of Haryana witnessed an election for two vacant seats in Rajya Sabha on 11th June. 90 votes were cast for 2 seats for which there were three candidates in total. It all seemed normal and in sync with our great democratic ethos till evening, when the Election officials declared 14 votes invalid. The election was manipulated with the misuse of power and defeated the provisions of Representation of People's Act.

More than a dozen MLAs found that their votes were invalid because a ‘wrong pen’ was used. These MLAs claim that they used the pen which the returning officer provided for casting their votes and that they adhered to the rules of voting. This was someone’s deliberate attempt at sabotaging the entire voting process and must be enquired by agencies and election commission alike. There was a deep-rooted conspiracy between Subhash Chandra who got elected by tweaking the entire election process and others who were responsible for conduct of the proceedings as per rules and laws.

The fact that emerges is that the MLAs did not cast votes erroneously but they were cheated and were victims of a conspiracy. Therefore the Election Commission of India must listen to the appeal of these 14 MLAs and call for immediate action. The election that took place on 11th June deserves to be countermanded and re-polling for the two assembly seats in Haryana needs to be done.

It is highly doubtful that a person who gets elected as a member of Rajya Sabha by subverting the electoral process will be a true representative of the state of Haryana in the august house of Rajya Sabha which is meant for people with sublime vision and ideologies with a keen desire to work for the growth and development of the state.

Furthermore, all necessary steps should be taken, including punishing those who were part of this conspiracy to ensure that no one in future is able to hijack the system for his advantage or for the ulterior gain of those who sponsor such wrong doers to ensure that the pillars of democracy are kept intact and confidence of the people of this country in the system is not shaken.