New Delhi:
In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission (EC), on Friday, countermanded the Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand. The strict action by the poll panel, also the first ever, came amidst reports of "horse-trading" and the seizure of cash worth over Rs 2 crore from a car belonging to a candidate's relative. Incidentally, the cancellation of the polls happened on the same day as elections that were held in the state for the two seats to the Rajya Sabha.
"We decided enough is enough, action needed to be taken... Jharkhand has become particularly notorious," said Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi to NDTV. His remarks come after the poll panel, on Friday, found that the election process in the state for the Rajya Sabha polls "has been seriously vitiated". The decision was arrived at after a day-long meeting following complaints by several political parties over use of money power for the polls. "Money power is major concern, happens in most elections... this should be a deterrent, EC is sure to crack down," Mr Quraishi added.
(Watch)The poll panel had, in its communication to the returning officers of the assemblies of Jharkhand, had asked them to submit detailed and comprehensive reports on the conduct of polls on Friday with special reference to any untoward incident immediately after the voting was over. As per the report from the Returning Officer of Jharkhand, the EC found that out of the 81 members in the state assembly (one seat being vacant), 79 cast their votes while three voters, Vishnu Bhaiya (of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), KN Tripathi (of Indian National Congress) and Suresh Pashwan (of Rashtriya Janata Dal) showed their ballot papers to persons other than their respective party agents, thus violating the prescribed voting procedure, the poll panel said.
"This raises a strong suspicion that the votes of the above-mentioned three MLAs may have been influenced by the alleged horse trading about which strong apprehensions had been raised by Gurudas Das Gupta, Babu Lal Marandi and Sharad Yadav", it said.
Seven candidates were contesting the Jharkhand's two Rajya Sabha seats.
The action by the EC was further necessitated after Rs 2.15 crore was recovered from a vehicle in Ranchi on Friday morning. The car belongs to Suresh Kumar Agarwal, the brother of businessman R K Agarwal, who contested as an Independent candidate. But Mr Agarwal denied any wrongdoing and also refuted reports of being related to SK Agarwal, the owner of the car. Speaking to NDTV, he said, "Can't be there more than one person by the name of SK Agarwal?"
Hailing the EC's move, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that he was "very happy" with the "wholesome step". "The Rajya Sabha elections have become a happy hunting ground for money bags from India and also abroad. It is very important that such tendencies are nipped in the bud. Therefore, this salutary step the Election Commission has taken will go a long way in dissuading such people from barging in the elections like some of did in Jharkhand."
Mr Sinha's reaction comes close on the heels of his vociferous opposition to the candidature of NRI businessman Anshuman Mishra for the Rajya Sabha polls in the state. Several senior leaders like LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj had questioned Mr Mishra's credentials and sang chorus with Mr Sinha of the party encouraging corruption and the buying of votes by backing outsiders, especially the likes of Mr Mishra. The intense pressure finally led to Mr Mishra backing out of the poll race. Incidentally, he had the backing of BJP President Nitin Gadkari who finally had to succumb to the majority view after senior party leaders said that they would ask all party MLAs to vote against Mr Mishra.
Meanwhile, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, who had written to the EC expressing concern over financing of the polls, also welcomed the poll panel's decision.
Jharkhand has had a notorious history of serving as an entry point to the Rajya Sabha for wealthy businessmen. R K Aggarwal, who was being backed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), is a businessman from Chhattisgarh. Another candidate, Pawan Kumar Dhoot is a businessman from Kolkata.