The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Marxist)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
The
change
in
the
nature
of
the
elected
representatives
to
the
Rajya
Sabha
and
the
procedure
to
elect
them
is
now
before
the
Supreme
Court.
The
law
was
amended
to
do
away
with
the
domicile/residential
qualification
for
electing
members
to
the
Rajya
Sabha.
Further,
the
open
ballot
system
was
introduced
for
electing
Rajya
Sabha
members
by
the
members
of
the
state
legislatures.
The
CPI(M)
was
opposed
to
both
these
changes.
The
Rajya
Sabha,
according
to
the
constitutional
arrangement,
is
the
Council
of
States
and
the
members
elected
should
be
from
the
states
concerned.
This
is
an
expression
of
the
federal
character
in
Parliament.
Secondly,
the
secret
ballot
principle
applies
to
all
elections.
Exempting
elections
to
the
Rajya
Sabha
from
this
principle
is
a
violation
of
the
democratic
principle.
The
Polit
Bureau
hopes
the
Supreme
Court
will
examine
these
issues
which
have
serious
implications
for
the
constitutional
arrangement
and
the
democratic
system.