Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls | Overruling returning officer, a first for Election Commission

On Tuesday night, when the Election Commission decided to overrule the decision of DM Patel, Secretary, Gujarat Assembly, who was also the returning officer (RO) for conducting elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state, it wasn't just exercising its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 324 of the Constitution.

In declaring invalid votes cast by two Congress MLAs, who had openly cross–voted in favour of the BJP candidate for the third seat — which was clinched by Congress leader Ahmed Patel after a hard–fought victory — the election regulator also did something that hadn't been done previously: Overruling the decision of the RO in such a sensitive matter, during counting stage.

"Normally, in the past, the EC has intervened and overruled the decision of the RO in cases of rejection of nomination or symbol allotment. This is the first time that the ruling of the RO on the issue of invalidating votes cast by MLAs has been overruled by the EC. This is a landmark order," said a senior EC functionary.

The officer said the EC doesn't interfere at the counting stage, leaving the decision to the judgment of the RO, with the observer deputed by the EC keeping close watch.

But, the source admitted, both Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti and Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat felt that the Commission should intervene to send out a strong signal that it would not sit back and watch in case irregularities affected free and fair elections.

Talking about the unfolding of events in Ahmedabad, the officer said the matter reached the EC within minutes of the RO conveying his decision to the demand by Patel's polling agent that votes of two Congress MLAs be declared invalid as they had violated rules.

The RO also sent his report to the EC, seeking permission to commence counting of the votes, which had stopped due to the complaints.

EC sources said that normally the RO seeks directions from the EC in the event such a complaint is made, but on Tuesday the RO went ahead and decided the issue himself.

Sources said Chief Election Commissioner Joti and Election Commissioner Rawat went through the video evidence sent by the RO as well as the one submitted by the Congress, which had knocked on the Commission's doors after the RO rejected Patel's election agent Shailesh Bhai Parmar's plea to reject votes of the two MLAs.