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The Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by a member of Indian National Congress challenging the decision of Election Commission of India to hold two separate bypolls to the Rajya Sabha. This election is for those places which which fell vacant upon the election of BJP President Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to Lok Sabha.Senior Advocate Vivek Thankha, appearing for the petitioner Pareshbhai Dhanani, Congress MLA from Gujarat is also the leader of opposition Gujarat assembly, states in the petition that separate elections for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat would upset the scheme of proportional representation as mandated under the Representation of People Act.
It has been stated both under the Constitution and the Representation of People Act that that if regular vacancies are existing at the time when the election is held, it should be held together so that the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote can be applied to those elections. It was contended that if the Election Commission is given a free hand to issue a notification with respect to vacancies in Rajya Sabha and if separate elections are held for the same purpose, it may result in abuse of power in so much so that the majority party will always be able to arrange the matters in such a way that it gets maximum seats.
It was also contended that poll panel has arbitrarily, malafidely, maliciously and under the directions of the government invoked its residuary powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and arbitrarily issued the June 15 press note declaring separate elections for the Rajya Sabha.The poll panel had clarified that the vacancies for by-polls to all Houses, including the Upper House, are considered separate vacancies and separate notifications are issued and separate polls are held, though the schedule can be the same.
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