Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

Right to reject and elect new candidate will give power to the people to express their discontent. Election Commission of India CONTEXT An advocate has moved the Supreme Court for a direction that fresh elections should be held in a constituency where NOTA (‘None of the above’ option) garnered the maximum number of votes. Besides, none of the candidates who lost to NOTA should be allowed to contest the fresh polls. Views of the Advocate  If the electorate has rejected the candidates by voting for NOTA, the parties should be barred from fielding them again in the fresh polls. The parties should accept that the voters have already made their discontent loud and clear. Right to reject and elect new candidate will give power to the people to express their discontent. Right to reject will check corruption, criminalisation, casteism, communalism. Parties would be forced to give tickets to honest and patriotic candidates. Right to Reject The ‘right to reject’ was first proposed by the La...

CONTEXT India’s first Member of Parliament to have been disqualified from the Lok Sabha has now been disqualified as an MLA in Mizoram. Mizoram Assembly Speaker disqualifies Zoram People’s Movement MLA Lalduhoma. Ground for disqualification The disqualification was on the ground that Mr. Lalduhoma had declared himself as a representative of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) despite being elected as an independent candidate from the Serchhip Assembly constituency. He lost the character of an independent legislator because of the declaration. What is the Anti-Defection Law? The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by the 52nd Amendment Act . It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House. The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies. When can a member be disqualified? If a member of a house belonging to a political part...