Cong MLA moves HC to save his voting rights during RS polls

Congress MLA Natha Patel on

Thursday knocked the doors of the Gujarat High Court to save his voting rights during the March 26 Rajya Sabha polls in the state for four seats.

In his petition, Patel claimed his voting rights might be taken away at the behest of the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

Patel's petition came up for hearing before a division bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Bhargav Karia, but the judges recused themselves from taking up the matter, saying "not before me".

Now, it is expected that HC Chief Justice Vikram Nath will allot a new court on Friday to hear the plea.

 

The MLA from Dhanera in Banaskantha district became apprehensive about his voting rights after a local BJP leader, Mukesh Thakkar, recently filed an application before the collector, claiming Patel had concealed "many things" while filing his affidavit for the 2017 Assembly election.

Thakkar, in his application, prayed that Patel be disqualified as an MLA under section 125 of the Representation of the People Act for not revealing certain "facts" in the affidavit.

Upon getting the application some time back, Banaskantha collector Sandip Sagale ordered the local police as well as the returning officer of Dhanera to initiate an investigation and take necessary steps, said the petition.

In his plea before the court, Patel alleged that he is being targeted at the behest of the BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

Patel claimed the BJP is trying to reduce Congress votes to stop the opposition party from winning a second seat in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Seeking to protect his voting rights, the plea urged the court to issue a "writ of prohibition" against the collector's past orders, claiming he does not have such powers to initiate inquiry.

A state's MLAs vote in the Rajya Sabha polls.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 103 MLAs, the Congress 73, the Bharatiya Tribal Party 2, the Nationalist Congress Party 1 and Independent 1. Two seats are vacant.

As per the existing equations in the house, the BJP and the Congress would get two seats each as 37 votes (MLAs) are required to win one seat.