NEVER before has a Rajya Sabha election beensuch a highly surcharged game. At the time of writing this editorial the result had not been declared (12.30 am, Wednesday). A week ago the Congress MLAs of Gujarat were taken away to Karnakata because they could not be trusted not to succumb to the lure of the BJP. So even while Gujarat was in spate and people suffered, their MLAs were enjoying a paid holiday elsewhere. This in itself is unprecedented. As someone correctly observed this was an actual Game of Thrones on which hinges Sonia Gandhi’s prestige and that of the Congress. Sonia’s close aide Ahmed Patel’s return to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time, which seems likely, it is a boost for her and the Congress. Patel’s fate became clear the moment the votes of two Congress MLAs who voted for the BJP were disqualified for showing their ballot papers to unauthorised persons, and thereby violating the code of conduct. Interestingly the EC raised no point of order on this until it was challenged by the Congress Party. The BJP accused Congress of crying foul because it knew Ahmed Patel has lost since there was cross voting and open declaration by several Congressmen including Congress leader Shanker Singh Vaghela that they would not vote for Patel. Ahmed Patel’s win (which seems clear now) is a blow for BJP President Amit Shah. For him this contest is not merely about politics and securing one more Rajya Sabha seat from his home state of Gujarat but about avenging the humiliation and incarceration meted out to him by the UPA Government, post the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case where Shah as Home Minister of Gujarat, was accused of orchestrating the killing. This is a battle Shah intended to win at all costs but things went awry.
The Election Commission must be commended for not succumbing to pressure and upholding its freedom to take the correct decision as per precedents set in the past. Whatever be the final verdict, it is important for institutions like the Election Commission to remain neutral and free from external pressures for democracy to sustain.