NOTA voting option can't be permitted in Rajya Sabha polls: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the option of none of the above (NOTA) cannot be permitted in Rajya Sabha elections.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud has set aside the Election Commission's notification allowing NOTA option in the ballot papers for Rajya Sabha polls.

The apex court had questioned the poll panel's notification and said that NOTA was meant to be exercised by individual voters in direct polls.

The verdict came on a plea of Shailesh Manubhai Parmar, who was the Congress's chief whip in the Gujarat assembly during the last Rajya Sabha polls, in which the party had fielded sitting MP Ahmed Patel.

Parmar had challenged the poll panel's notification allowing the NOTA option in ballot papers.

The top court had earlier said by introducing NOTA, the poll panel was legitimising the act of not voting.

The Gujarat Congress leader had alleged that if the NOTA provision was allowed in the Rajya Sabha polls, it would encourage "horse-trading and corruption".

The poll panel had said NOTA was first introduced in 2014 following an apex court verdict a year earlier and they (the Congress) did not have any objection in subsequent polls as it suited them.

LS adjourns sine die as 'productive and satisfactory' monsoon session ends

The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday as the Monsoon Session ended after 17 sittings for 112 hours, during which 21 laws, including one to amend the SC/ST Act, were passed.

While 8 hours 26 minutes of the session were marred by disruptions, the House sat almost 21 hours extra to discuss major issues during the session that began on July 18.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the session has been "more productive and safisfactory" than the previous Budget Session and last year's monsoon session.

The session witnessed a discussion on no-confidence motion against the government brought by TDP and other Opposition parties. The motion was defeated later. As many as 51 members discussed and debated the motion for 11 hours 46 minutes, she said.

BJP set to increase its tally in Rajya Sabha from Maha; Polls on March 23

The ruling BJP is set to increase its tally from Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha and also in the state Legislative Council, given its improved strength in the 288-member Legislative Assembly post the 2014 polls.

Elections will be held on March 23 for various seats of the Rajya Sabha, including six from Maharashtra, falling vacant on April 2.

At present, the opposition Congress and the NCP hold two seats each, while the Shiv Sena and the BJP have apiece each of these six seats of the Upper House of Parliament.
The BJP, with its tally of 122 in the Assembly, is poised to get three Rajya Sabha seats now, while the Sena, the Congress and the NCP will get one each.

Meanwhile, the biennial elections to 21 Legislative Council seats, out of the total 78, are due later this year.

Gujarat CM links IS suspect to Ahmed Patel; Cong leader rubbishes charge

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday night demanded resignation of Congress veteran Ahmed Patel from the Rajya Sabha alleging his possible links to a suspected terrorist arrested earlier in the week from his home district of Bharuch. Ahmed Patel rubbished the charge.

Rupani, who also sought Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's clarification on the matter, was referring to Mohammed Qasim Stimberwala, one of the two alleged IS operatives arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad from Surat on Wednesday.

Stimberwala had resigned recently as an eco-cardiogram technician in the Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart Institute in Ankleshwar, which Patel had helped grow into a modern facility.

Patel was one of the trustees during the hospital's formative years as a modern hospital and the only one in the entire Bharuch district with latest equipment and technology with facilities for heart surgery. He had resigned as a trustee in 2014 facilitating a new board of trustees to take over the facility.

The ATS, which picked up Stimberwala and Ubed Ahmed Mirza, claimed that they were planning to attack a Jewish synagogue in Khadia area of Ahmedabad and had even carried out reconnaissance of their target.
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Vice President election 2017: MPs to vote today, result to be out by 7 pm

Ruling NDA's candidate M Venkaiah Naidu is tipped to be India's next vice president as members of Parliament gear up to cast their ballot today.

The name of the next vice president of India will be known today evening after members of Parliament cast their ballot during the day in Parliament House.

The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president.

The opposition has fielded Gopal Krishna Gandhi against Naidu.

The BJD and the JD(U) which had supported NDA nominee Ramnath Kovind for the post of president, have decided to back opposition nominee Gandhi.

Though the JD(U) has broken ties with 'mahagathbandhan' and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in Bihar, it has decided to vote for Gandhi, a former governor of West Bengal.

Members of Parliament will use special pens for marking their choice in the election to be held between 10 am and 5 pm tomorrow.
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Vaghela's exit may cast a shadow on Ahmed Patel's chances in RS poll

Gujarat Congress stalwart Shankarsinh Vaghela's decision to quit the party may cast a shadow on the prospects of Sonia Gandhi's confidante Ahmed Patel's re-election to the Rajya Sabha.

According to sources in the party, Vaghela has the support of around a dozen MLAs, and if they follow suit, it may put into jeopardy Patel's chances of securing a fourth Rajya Sabha term from his home state.

Patel is Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary.

Congress has 57 MLAs in Gujarat and its candidate would require votes of 47 of them to get elected.

The RS poll comes close on the heels of the presidential election which exposed chinks in the Congress armour as the joint opposition's nominee Meira Kumar could garner votes of only 49 MLAs.

Vaghela, while announcing his decision of quitting the party, said he would resign from the Assembly only after the August 8 RS poll, seen as a veiled warning that he would try to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidate.

Patel's current term ends on August 18. Though the party is yet to announce its candidate for the upcoming elections, it is seen as almost certain that it would be Patel.
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