The election to the 15 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh on February 27 was marked by cross-voting in all three States, despite parties issuing three-line whips, deviating from the norm.
But the move could start a legal debate as whips are not issued for Rajya Sabha elections. The absence of a whip and the appeal for a “conscience vote” makes it easy for MLAs to avoid any action under the anti-defection law or the 10th Schedule even if they cross-vote.
In Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, where six MLAs of the Congress voted in favour of the winning BJP candidate, the ruling party had issued a three-line whip for all its lawmakers to vote for the party’s nominee, Abhishek Singhvi.
