Rot of cross-voting in Rajya Sabha is not just Election Commission's problem

The Election Commission, we are told, wants the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA) to be amended to empower it to countermand elections wherever cases of bribery are established.

To see this through, it is writing to the Union law ministry urging it to amend the RPA 1951, at the earliest, possibly in the Monsoon session of Parliament, commencing in the third week of July.

The law, as it exists, empowers the EC to countermand elections, wherever there has been large-scale rigging, but is silent when it comes to cases where bribery is involved.

That is precisely what the EC wants changed.

The ball is now in the government's court now, to act, and the sooner it does, the better it will be for image of the country's politicians and the general health of the Indian polity.

This, by the way, is not the first time that money power has played a critical role in helping moneybags get elected to the upper house, especially so in states like Karnataka and  Jharkhand.

My fear is that this will not be the last time, unless the EC and the political class decide to crack down on this.

The joke in political circles is that every time elections to the Rajya Sabha are held, one seat in Karnataka goes to the highest bidder, with liquor baron Vijay Mallya and the mining baron, Anil Lad, cited as prime examples of such high bidders.

Unfortunately, most political parties have, from time to time, been guilty of not entirely playing by the rules. Mallya got into the Rajya Sabha with the support of the JD(S) and the BJP and the Congress propped up Anil Lad, and he roped in the Gowda-led JD(S).

Attention has primarily been focused on Karnataka, thanks to the sting operation conducted by India Today, but the same script is playing out in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Haryana.

In UP, the BJP has only 16 surplus votes, after electing its two official candidates, and therefore, its decision to field a real estate baron's wife, Preeti Mahapatra, as its own candidate has raised eyebrows.  

To get elected, she will need the support of 18 more MLAs, and word coming out of Lucknow is that her political managers are shopping for additional votes with the going rate being Rs 5 crore per MLA.

While the government ponders on the desirability of amending the RPA, it should work with the EC to clampdown on attempts to buy votes.

It could begin with UP and Haryana and ensure that the Anti-Defection law is at least adhered to, so that cross-voting across party lines does not take place.

Failure to do so will erode whatever little credibility the political class has been left with.