SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, March 16: The Election Commission of India (ECI), rejecting the BJP plea, announced to hold the byelections in Gandey on May 20.
JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed vacated the seat on December 31, presumably for Hemant Soren’s wife, Kalpana Soren.
BJP opposed by-poll
However, the BJP, in a letter to Governor CP Radhakrishnan, said that the byelections cannot be held in Gandey as the remaining tenure of the House is less than one year.
It said that the result of the 5th Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha was declared on 23.12.2019, and Sarfaraz Ahmad resigned from his office and was accepted w.e.f. 31.12.2023.
Also Read: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in Jharkhand: All you need to know
“The election at Gandey Constituency for the remaining period cannot happen since less than one year is left of the whole tenure of the 5th Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha,” it said, counting the tenure of the House from December 27 2019.
JMM stand
The JMM, on the other hand, said that the first session of the fifth Jharkhand Legislative Assembly was convened on January 6 2020. So, the remaining tenure of the Assembly is more than a year, it added.
“According to Article 172 of the Constitution of India, the tenure of the fifth Jharkhand Legislative Assembly is until January 5 2025,” the JMM said in a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer, seeking the Election Commission to hold the election in Gandey as soon as possible.
The JMM also cited a Supreme Court judgment (Pramod Laxman Gudadhe vs. Election Commission of India), which said that the Representation of the People Act was binding on the Commission. The ECI announcement has vindicated our stand, said a JMM leader.
Why did Sarfaraz quit?
It was widely believed that Kalpana Soren would take over the reins of the State in case Hemant Soren was forced to resign because of the ED action in the land scam case. Kalpana’s birthplace is Odisha, so she could not have fought the election from a reserved seat in Jharkhand. So, Gandey, a general seat held by Sarfaraz Ahmed, was vacated for her. Sarfaraz was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat for his ‘sacrifice’.
However, Hemant put his plan on hold after the BJP went on the offensive, saying a non-MLA (read Kalpana Soren) should not be administered oath as they can’t be elected from Gandey, given the remaining tenure of the Assembly being less than one year.
Finally, Champai Soren succeeded him after the ED arrested Hemant on January 31.
How to calculate the term of the 19th Assembly
Article 172
Article 172 of the Constitution: Every Legislative Assembly of every State, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting/
The Assembly’s first meeting was held on January 6, 2020, and continued till January 8. So, the tenure of the 19th Assembly Assembly will be counted from January 6 2020, rather than from December 27, as pointed out by the BJP.
EC on Assembly tenure
The Election Commission website also mentions the House tenure from 06.01.2020 to 05.01.2025. The Election Commission completed the elections on December 26 2019 and informed the governor on December 27 2019.
Section 151A
Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 mandates the Election Commission to fill
the casual vacancies in the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures through
bye-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy,
provided that the remainder of the term of a member about a vacancy is one year
or more.
