Cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha has become a bane for the Janata Dal (Secular), as its official candidate, B.M. Farook, has now tasted two consecutive defeats owing to seven rebel MLAs cross-voting in favour of the ruling Congress. Two years after the first instance of cross-voting by the rebels defying the party whip in 2016, the speaker is yet to pass a ruling in the disqualification plea by the JD(S).
Mangaluru-based businessman Farook (brother of sitting Congress MLA Mohiuddin Bava), who is the aggrieved party, has petitioned the Karnataka High Court seeking justice. Cross-voters going unpunished is detrimental to parliamentary democracy, he contends.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Farook, asks if dissenters should be allowed to go scot-free. He also claims several disgruntled Congress MLAs had pledged their support to him in these polls.
Your party has only 37 MLAs including the seven rebel MLAs. How can you expect to win the polls?
Many Congress MLAs wanted to cross-vote as they are angry with the chief minister. Many suspect they might not get tickets. So they are planning to join the JD(S) and some want to retire. They were hoping to teach their leaders a lesson in the Rajya Sabha polls. But everything changed after the two senior Congress MLAS, who had earlier cross-voted, voted for the Congress afresh under pressure.
Former speaker Kagodu Thimmappa and Gurmitkal MLA Baburao Chinchansur marked their votes and showed it to the polling agent. But on noticing the two had cross-voted, the agent asked them to take a fresh ballot paper and cast the vote in favour of the Congress. Nobody is a kid; all are experienced politicians and the Congress now claiming that it happened “inadvertently” is not acceptable. Under the rules 29 AA2, subsection 5, it is clearly mentioned that ballot paper can be issued only once.
Why was the returning officer sacked?
The returning officer, S. Murthy, was sacked as he facilitated this violation. When we first confronted him, he said a second ballot paper can be given to the voter. We submitted a memorandum to chief electoral officer Sanjeev Kumar, seeking countermanding of the elections on the grounds of electoral malpractice. After the JD(S) staged a dharna, the RO was replaced and polls resumed. However, we decided to boycott the polls, after we petitioned the Election Commission of India seeking countermanding of the polls. We also complained against our rebel MLAs cross-voting in the polls too.
How many Congress MLAs do you think would have cross-voted this time?
At least 20 Congress leaders would have cross-voted. But as soon as the two MLAs cross-voted, it became chaotic and the other MLAs backed out. If only the speaker had not sat on the case and disqualified the JD(S) rebels, I would have won as the overall quota (minimum votes) needed to win would have reduced to 38. Even if 10 Congress MLAs cross-voted in my favour, I could have won. Many Congress MLAs had indicated they would cross-vote or abstain from casting their votes. But the Congress ensured that each MLA was escorted from his house for polling as the Congress was not confident of winning all three seats.
What happened the first time (in 2016) you were defeated?
In the 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, JD(S) chose me to give representation to the minority community. This time again, I was nominated as there is only one MP from the state from the community. But the Congress pulled our eight MLAs on its side. We complained to the Assembly Speaker K.B. Koliwad, seeking disqualification of the rebels for violating the whip. But for the last two years, the speaker has taken no action.
Do you feel your party made a mistake by not approaching the courts?
I admit we made a mistake by not approaching the court soon after the first instance of cross-voting in 2016. This time, we approached the High Court, seeking to restrain the rebels from voting. But the speaker was adamant and told the court that no High Court or Supreme Court could give him directions.
Is there a possibility of this deadlock ending?
My counsel argued that if the rebels are allowed to vote, I would be defeated. The judge told our opponent 's counsel that the moment they cross-vote, they cease to be the members of the Legislative Assembly. However, the order for the same should come from the Speaker. There have been several cases where the Speaker has either been biased or has not taken any action.
In the Rajendra Singh Rana case, the Supreme Court has given a clear verdict, stating that anyone found violating the whip and cross-voting would cease to be the member of the House. We filed a writ application before the High Court to stop rebels from voting. The speaker and the lawyers of the rebel MLAs argued that since the calendar of the polls is announced, no writ can be maintained. The judge said the writ is maintainable and requested the speaker to pass an order. However, the advocate general told the court that the speaker would take a decision by April 30.
What would be your next move?
I might have lost the elections. But these seven MLAs will be debarred as per the anti-defection laws. There have been several judgements in similar cases where the speaker is found to be dragging the case. Recently, the Chennai court saw a similar case, which was referred to a Constitutional Bench.
Did the JDS jump the gun, by boycotting the polls?
If in future, these rebels are disqualified, the third Congress candidate, who won due to the rebels' vote, would lose the seat. I might have been automatically elevated for the same seat if I had managed to garner only 38 votes. But the question does not arise now as our party boycotted the polls. We could not take a decision swiftly.