POLITICAL

Rajya Sabha fault lines clear for Deputy Chairman poll

Knotty problem for BJP and Opposition as Venkaiah initiates process

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday set in motion the process of election of Deputy Chairman of the Upper House, even as the Opposition parties are yet to begin formal discussions on fielding a candidate.

Mr. Naidu, according to sources, had a meeting with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Tuesday to discuss possible dates of the election. The office of Deputy Chairman falls vacant on July 2 with incumbent P.J. Kurien retiring from the post.

It’s a knotty problem for both the BJP and the Opposition parties. The Opposition has 115 members while the ruling BJP, along with its allies, has 104. The key, however, is with 17 undecided members belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (six), YSR Congress Party (two) and Biju Janata Dal (nine).

The TRS and the YSRCP have been warming to the ruling dispensation. TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, after initial noises about building a federal front, has been keeping away from every Opposition meet. He skipped the swearing-in ceremony of Janata Dal(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The entire Opposition had attended the ceremony in a show of strength.

Last week, he was in the capital for over four days to attend the governing council meeting of NITI Aayog, but he did not meet his counterparts.

The other problem for the Opposition is that regional parties such as the Trinamool Congress do not want to be dictated to by the Congress.

Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, along with Telugu Desam Party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, have already started parallel discussions.

Opposition teams up

After talks on Saturday night, Ms. Banerjee, Mr. Naidu, Mr. Kumaraswamy and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan went to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress has maintained a studied silence all along. According to sources, when many Opposition leaders tried reaching out to strategists like Ahmed Patel, they were assured that discussions will happen soon, without actually giving any time frame.The key, however, lies with BJD: whoever they ally with will win this battle.

Under the procedure prescribed, any member may give notice in writing addressed to the Secretary-General, before noon on the day before the election date, of a motion that another member may be chosen as Deputy Chairman. This notice shall be accompanied by a statement by the member whose name is proposed in the notice that he is willing to serve as Deputy Chairman, if elected.

The motions which have been moved and duly seconded will be put one by one in the order in which they have been moved and decided if necessary by division.

Reference Information for You

Composition/Strength

Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the States and of the two Union Territories.  The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the President. The members nominated by the President are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.

Allocation of Seats

The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of seats to the States and Union Territories in Rajya Sabha.  The allocation of seats is made on the basis of the population of each State.  Consequent on the reorganization of States and formation of new States, the number of elected seats in the Rajya Sabha allotted to States and Union Territories has changed from time to time since 1952. 

Presiding Officers -  Chairman and Deputy Chairman

The Presiding Officers of Rajya Sabha have the responsibility to conduct the proceedings of the House.  The Vice-President of India is ex-officioChairman of Rajya Sabha.  Rajya Sabha also chooses from amongst its members, a Deputy Chairman.  There is also a Panel of Vice-Chairmen in Rajya Sabha, the members of which are nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.  In the absence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, a member from the Panel of Vice-Chairmen presides over the proceedings of the House. 

ELECTION OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND PANEL OF VICE-CHAIRMEN

7. Election of Deputy Chairman

(1) The election of a Deputy Chairman shall be held on such date as the Chairman may fix and the Secretary-General shall send to every member notice of this date.

(2) At any time before noon on the day- preceding the date so fixed, any member may give notice in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of a motion that another member be chosen as the Deputy Chairman of the Council, and the notice shall be seconded by a third member and shall be accompanied by a statement by the member whose name is proposed in the notice that he is willing to serve as Deputy Chairman if elected:

Provided that a member shall not propose or second more than one motion.

(3) A member in whose name a motion stands in the list of business may, when called, move the motion or not move the motion, in which case he shall confine himself to a mere statement to that effect.

(4) The motions which have been moved and duly seconded shall be put one by one in the order in which they have been moved and decided if necessary by division. If any motion is carried, the person presiding shall, without putting later motions, declare that the member proposed in the motion which has been carried, has been chosen as the Deputy Chairman of the Council.

8. Panel of Vice-Chairmen

(1) The Chairman shall, from time to time, nominate from amongst the members of the Council a panel of not more than six Vice-Chairmen, any one of whom may preside over the Council in the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman when so requested by the Chairman, or in his absence, by the Deputy Chairman.

(2) A Vice-Chairman nominated under sub-rule (1) shall hold office until a new panel of Vice-Chairmen is nominated.

9. Powers of Deputy Chairman etc. while presiding

The Deputy Chairman or other member competent to preside over a sitting of the Council under the Constitution or these rules shall, when so presiding, have the same power as the Chairman when presiding over the Council and all references to the Chairman in these rules shall in these circumstances be deemed to be, references to any such person so presiding.

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Polls to six teachers, graduate seats today; results on 12 June 2018

Elections to six legislative council seats, three each from graduates and teachers constituencies, will be held on Friday. Voting is from 7am to 5pm and the results will be announced on June 12.(2018)

All three major parties — Congress, JD(S) and BJP — have fielded candidates in all six seats. Although Congress and JD(S) have formed a coalition government in the state, they’re fighting each other in these elections.

While former deputy chairman of legislative council Maritibbegowda is seeking re-election from South Teachers constituency, former Hebbal MLA YA Narayanaswamy is in the fray from South-East Teachers segment. Senior BJP leader Ganesh Karnik is seeking re-election from Ssouth-West Teachers constituency and former MP from Shivamogga Ayanur Manjunath is testing his luck from South-West Graduates constituency.

Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj is in the fray from North-East Graduates constituency, hoping his fight to get employment for Kannadigas in railways and other central departments will help him win. Overall, 35 candidates, including 18 from the three parties, are in the fray for the six seats, which will see 2.14 lakh voters in the graduates consituency and 60,561 in the teachers constituency.

Method of Election:

Each Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) serves for a six-year term, with terms staggered so that the terms of one-third of a Council's membership expire every two years. This arrangement parallels that for the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.

MLCs must be citizens of India, at least 30 years' old, mentally sound, not an insolvent, and on the voters' list of the state for which he or she is contesting an election. He or she may not be a Member of Parliament at the same time.

The size of the Vidhan Parishad cannot be more than one-third the membership of the Vidhan Sabha. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members (except in Jammu and Kashmir, where there are 36 by an Act of Parliament.)

MLCs are chosen in the following manner:

• One-third are elected by members of local bodies such as Municipalities, Gram Sabhas/Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads.
• One-third are elected by members of Legislative Assemblies (Elected)of the State from among the persons who are not members of the Assembly.
• One-sixth are nominated by the Governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social service.
• One-twelfth are elected by persons who are graduates of three years' standing residing in that state.
• One-twelfth are elected by persons engaged for at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than secondary schools, including colleges and universities.

Counting and Result:

As the MLC election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, every elector has as many preferences as candidates contesting the elections. The winning candidate has to secure the required quota of votes to be declared elected, i.e., 50% of valid votes polled +1.

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat organizations or constituencies (voting districts).^[1] Under STV, an elector (voter) has a single vote that is initially allocated to their most preferredcandidate. Votes are totalled and a quota (the number of votes required to win a seat) derived. If their candidate achieves quota, he/she is elected and in some STV systems any surplus vote is transferred to other candidates in proportion to the voters' stated preferences. If more candidates than seats remain, the bottom candidate is eliminated with his/her votes being transferred to other candidates as determined by the voters' stated preferences. These elections and eliminations, and vote transfers if applicable, continue until there are only as many candidates as there are unfilled seats. The specific method of transferring votes varies in different systems.

The system provides approximately proportional representation while mostly ensuring that the party with the most votes gets the most seats and that minorities have some representation; enables votes to be cast for individual candidates rather than for parties and party machine-controlled party lists, and – compared to first-past-the-post voting – reduces "wasted" votes (votes being wasted on losers and surplus votes being wasted on sure winners) by transferring them to other candidates.

25 Ministers inducted into State Cabinet

Several prominent leaders miss out; 12 newcomers make it

Two weeks after the formation of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday expanded the State Cabinet by inducting 25 Ministers.

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara and several Congress and JD(S) leaders.

What it means about oath of office and secrecy....?

An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. 

Here the Oath and secrecy of Central Minister and State council of Ministers are same except who administer the oath of office and secrecy .
But all MPs and MLAs /MLCs has to take Oath of office (then only they become Members of the house and take part in the business proceedings of respective houses),which is administered by Speaker in Loka sabha ,Chairman in Rajya Sabha, speaker in State Legislative Assembly ,Chairman in State Legislative Council (for MLCs).
Note : for MPs and MLAs /MLCs Oath of secrecy is not there it means Only Oath of Office is available to them.
Form of oath or affirmation to be made by a member of Parliament:- 


"I, A.B., having been elected (or nominated) a member of the Council of States (or the House of the People) do swear in the name of God/solmnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter."] 


Form of oath or affirmation to be made by a member of the Legislature of a State:- 
"I, A.B., having been elected (or nominated) a member of the Legislative Assembly (or Legislative Council), do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter."] 

For Union Council of Ministers The oath of office for Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers: administered by the president of India .

For State Council of Ministers The oath of office for Chief Minister and other members of the  Council of Ministers: administered by the Governor of corresponding State .

Union Council of Ministers of India 

The oath of office for Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers: administered by the president of India .

The oath of office is as follows:

I, (name), do swear in the name of God (or, solemnly affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

— Schedule III, Constitution of India

The oath of secrecy is as follows:

I, (name), do swear in the name of God (or, solemnly affirm) that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the Union except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister.

— Schedule III, Constitution of India

State Government


Form of oath of office for a Minister for a State:- 
"I, A.B., do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, _439[that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,] that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the State of............ and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or ill-will." 



Form of oath of secrecy for a Minister for a State:- 
"I, A.B., do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the State of ........................................except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister." 
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NHRC seeks report from West Bengal

The National Human Rights Commission has taken cognisance of the death of an elderly couple at Kadwip in the State’s South 24 Parganas district and sought report from the District Magistrate and Superintendent of police of the district.

On the eve of polling for panchayat polls in West Bengal on May 14, Debu Das and wife Usha Das were burnt to death, when their house caught fire. The couple were supporters of Communist Party of India (Marxist). The CPI(M) leadership claimed that supporters of Trinamool Congress (TMC) had set their house on fire.

A petition alleging police inaction filed by Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was sent to the NHRC.

Prof. Mahapatra who is a convener of Aakranta Amraa, a body comprising of victims of human right violations in West Bengal said that he wrote to NHRC, when he found there was no action days after the incident.

In the communication sent to the petitioner, the NHRC has also informed that it has also roped in the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

“Let a copy of the complaint be also transmitted to the Secretary, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission to inform this Commission the date of cognisance, if any, taken at their end in the instant matter within this period,” the direction issued by the NHRC said.

The NHRC also directed the Director General, Investigation Division of the Commission, shall also get the facts collected over telephone and put up the same within 3 days.

Last week the NHRC took suo motu cognisance of the death of Trilochan Mahato, a 20- year-old BJP worker whose body was founding hanging on the tree in Raghunathpur in Purulia. The NHRC while taking suo motu cognisance had observed that “difference of opinion and ideology are obvious in a multi-party democratic political system”.

NHRC:

The National Human Rights Commission is an expression of India's concern for the protection and promotion of human rights. It came into being in October,1993.

In terms of Section 2 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (hereafter referred to as 'the Act'), "human rights" means the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed under the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India. "International Covenants" means the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 16th December, 1966 . 

The authority/State Government/Central Government has to indicate its comments/action taken on the report/recommendations of the Commission within a period of one month in respect of general complaints and within three months in respect of complaints relating to armed forces. 

the Commission has its own investigating staff headed by a Director General of Police for investigation into complaints of human rights violations. Under the Act, it is open to the Commission to utilise the services of any officer or investigation agency of the Central Government or any State Government. The Commission has associated, in a number of cases, non - Governmental organizations in the investigation work. 

the autonomy of the Commission derives, inter-alia, from the method of appointing its Chairperson and Members, their fixity of tenure, and statutory guarantees thereto, the status they have been accorded and the manner in which the staff responsible to the Commission - including its investigative agency - will be appointed and conduct themselves. The financial autonomy of the Commission is spelt out in Section 32 of the Act.

THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 

3. Constitution of a National Human Rights Commission 

(1) The Central Government shall constitute a body to be known as the National Human Rights Commission to exercise the powers conferred upon, and to perform the functions assigned to it, under this Act.

 (2) The Commission shall consist of: 

(a) a Chairperson who has been a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; 

(b) one Member who is or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court; 

(c) one Member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court; 

(d) two Members to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights. 

(3) The Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, [the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes, the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes]and the National Commission for Women shall be deemed to be Members of the Commission for the discharge of functions specified in clauses (b) to (j) of section 12.

 (4) There shall be a Secretary-General who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions of the Commission [except judicial functions and the power to make regulations under section 40 B], as may be delegated to him by the Commission or the Chairperson as the case may be.

(5) The headquarters of the Commission shall be at Delhi and the Commission may, with the previous approval of the Central Government, establish offices at other places in India.

4. Appointment of Chairperson and other Members 

(1) The Chairperson and [the Members] shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal; Provided that every appointment under this sub-section shall be made after obtaining the recommendations of a Committee consisting of– 

(a) The Prime Minister — Chairperson

 (b) Speaker of the House of the People — Member

(c) Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Government of India — Member 

(d) Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People — Member

 (e) Leader of the Opposition in the Council of States — Member 

(f) Deputy Chairman of the Council of States — Member Provided further that no sitting Judge of the Supreme Court or sitting Chief Justice of a High Court shall be appointed except after consultation with the Chief Justice of India. 

(2) No appointment of a Chairperson or a Member shall be invalid merely by reason of any [vacancy of any member in the Committee referred to in the first proviso to sub-section (1)].

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YSRCP MPs resubmit their resignations

Say resignation should come into force from April 6

Five Lok Sabha members of the YSR Congress Party met Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday to re-submit their resignations. Ms. Mahajan has agreed to accept the resignations two months after the MPs first resigned on April 6.

The date is significant. The YSRCP insists that the resignations be deemed to have been accepted on April 6. This will mean the Election Commission will have to hold bypolls within six months, which will be before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

But if the Speaker accepts the resignation with effect from Wednesday or a later date, as per the rules under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, bypolls cannot be held as the Lok Sabha polls are less than a year away.

“The Speaker asked us if we have changed our minds on the resignation. We emphatically said no and asked her to accept our resignations at the earliest. She has agreed to do so,” YSR Congress MP Y.V. Subba Reddy told The Hindu .

Bracing for bypoll

Mr. Reddy said the MPs were bracing for a bypoll. “We have sacrificed 14 months of our parliamentary tenure for Andhra Pradesh. We will go back to the people,” he said.

The Telugu Desam Party has called the move a “fixed match” between the BJP and the YSR Congress. TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas said: “The BJP colluded with the YSRCP and didn’t accept the MPs’ resignations till today.”

the Representation of the People Act, 1951

14. Notification for general election to the House of the People.—

(1) A general election shall be held for the purpose of constituting a new House of the People on the expiration of the duration of the existing House or on its dissolution. 

(2) For the said purpose the President shall, by one or more notifications published in the Gazette of India on such date or dates as may be recommended by the Election Commission, call upon all Parliamentary constituencies to elect members in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of the rules and orders made thereunder: Provided that where a general election is held otherwise than on the dissolution of the existing House of the People, no such notification shall be issued at any time earlier than six months prior to the date on which the duration of that House would expire under the provisions of clause (2) of article 83.

 [151A. Time limit for filling vacancies referred to in sections 147, 149, 150 and 151.—Notwithstanding anything contained in section 147, section 149, section 150 and section 151, a bye-election for filling any vacancy referred to in any of the said sections shall be held within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply if— 

(a) the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year; 

or

 (b) the Election Commission in consultation with the Central Government certifies that it is difficult to hold the bye-election within the said period.]