NPCC petitions ECI on bye-elections

Dimapur, June 9 (EMN): Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), in consultation with AICC legal secretary, submitted a representation to Election Commission of India (ECI) on June 8 drawing the attention of ECI to the provision of Article 151A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 as amended in 1996. The provision states that bye-election should not apply if the remainder term is less than one year. NPCC Media Cell reasoned that since the term of Nagaland Legislative Assembly is due to expire on March 12, 2018, the remainder term is just 8 months away. However, if the bye-election were conducted after the Presidential Election which may be in the 4th week of the July or August 2017 and code of conduct of election come into force by the end of December 2017 for general election, there will hardly be 4 working months. Further there may only be one day session to fulfil the Constitutional provisions. NPCC stated that bye-election is meaningless to the opposition parties, adding it is wasteful to engage the people and government. “Forcing bye-election in violation will render the Constitutional provisions meaningless and also create uncomfortable precedence in the nation,” NPCC said. Justifying the aforesaid matter, NPCC delegate has objected to the bye-elections. Meanwhile, it added that Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner, has assured to put up the matter before the ECI for discussion. However, he said there are many instances of bye-elections in the past.