EC issues notices for Rajya Sabha by polls News Separate 'notices of election' were issued for by-polls to two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat June 18, to be held on July 5. More in News ● Election Commission issued notices announcing by-elections to two seats which fell vacant due to the election of Smriti Irani and Amit Shah to the Lok Sabha. Both had been elected to the Upper House from Gujarat in 2017. ● According to the schedule announced by the EC, polls in Gujarat, Bihar and Odisha will be held on July 5 between 9 am to 4 pm and the counting of votes will be done the same day at 5 pm. ● However, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission notification to hold separate polls for the two Rajya Sabha seats Separate ballot paper system ● Elections to the two seats will be treated as two separate elections with separate ballot boxes and separate ballot papers All the 175 MLAs (100 BJP, 71 Congress, 1 NCP, 2 Bharatiya Tribal Party and 1 Independent) in the 182 strong state legislatures will end up voting twice as against the preferential ballot system where the MLAs voted are counted only once. A single transferable vote system, employed during Rajya Sabha polls, ensures that each MLA’s vote is counted just once. If the voting was to take place simultaneously for both the seats, then to win one seat, both parties would need at least 59 MLAs to vote for a candidate. ● In a separate ballot paper system, as is to be done this time, there is only one candidate from a party, so the issue of marking preference does not arise. This is the major departure from the Rajya Sabha elections held in 2017 is that the MLAs in Gujarat need not mention the first and second preference of candidates when they vote. Election Commission argument on separate notice ● The EC said in a statement on June 15 that vacancies for by-polls to all legislatures are considered as "separate vacancies" and separate polls are held though they could be held on the same day and at the same time. ● EC said it is “in conformity with provisions of Section 147 to 151 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and has been a consistent practice of the Commission in such cases.” ● It also pointed out the Delhi High Court ruling in favour of separate elections in 1994 and 2009. ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org Opposition response ● In referred case of Delhi high Court, the seats were vacated in two different years, one seat were vacated in 1989 and one in 1990.The tenure was different and even the seats were reserved for separate categories and accordingly the HC decision was passed. ● But in Gujarat, the elections to the Rajya Sabha were held together in 2017 and both Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to the Rajya Sabha together. Both were elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 together and even their tenures as Rajya Sabha MPs will end together in 2023. ©Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved. https://www.jatinverma.org .