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| Stage for conscience vote was set in 1969 by Indira Gandhi | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 28: When National Conference President and Union Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, suggested to his party legislators to vote as per their conscience on the private member's resolution seeking House support for clemency to Afzal Guru, his suggestion was not something that could be treated as a unique political experiment.
Since it was a private member's resolution its defeat or otherwise on the floor of the House could have no impact on the survival of the coalition Government the NC leadership felt that there was no need for issuing a whip to its party legislators.
In fact the NC leadership is said to have been willing to see the resolution adopted by the House because as Kashmir centric organisation it is not prepared to allow its main political rival, the PDP, to score points after it announced to support the resolution.
Dr Farooq Abdullah has become a matured politician and knowing that support to the resolution seeking clemency to Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death on charge of his involvement in the terrorist strike on the Parliament building in 2001, could widen the wedge between the Congress and the National Conference he favoured vote according to the conscience of the MLAs.
Vote as per the conscience has been tested for the first time in India during the Presidential election in 1969. The then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had called for a conscience vote for her nominee, V.V. Giri, against the official Congress candidate, Sanjeeva Reddy. Interestingly Indira Gandhi's candidate won the election. But the outcome of it was a vertical split in the Congress.
However, the cry in favour of conscience vote during the Presidential election had not proved lucky for the Independent candidate, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. He lost to the Congress nominee, Pratibha Singh Patil in 2007.
Vice President Shekhawat, who was contesting as independent candidate, banked on MLAs and MPs to vote according to their conscience but the Congress had the strength and stamina to blunt the conscience vote mantra.
Hence Dr Farooq's experiment, which he wanted to test during the voting on clemency resolution, was within the political and democratic norms and rules. And usually the call for vote according to one's conscience is given when either the party, that gives the call, is on a weak wicket or it wants to play safe without inviting some trouble for it. |
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