The story so far: When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced that he would contest from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, questions were raised on why he took the decision after the Kerala election was over — he is a contestant from Wayanad too. According to the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, a candidate is permitted to contest an election from up to two constituencies, but he or she can hold only one seat at a time if elected from both.
Is there a cap?
A sub-section, 33 (7), of the RPA, allowing a candidate to contest from two seats, was introduced through an amendment in 1996, prior to which there was no bar on the number of constituencies from which a candidate could contest. However, Section 70 of the same Act stipulates that a candidate can hold only one seat at a time, regardless of whether he or she has been elected from more than one seat. Thus, if a candidate wins from two seats, a byelection is necessary from the seat he or she vacates. Former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said the opposition to a candidate contesting from many seats was basically due to the fact that many byelections had to be conducted after polls were over. Since then, the Election Commission of India and the Law Commission have both proposed that the RPA Act should be further amended to allow one person to contest from only one seat, given that a candidate cannot hold two seats at the same time. Mr. Gopalaswami said this was proving to be difficult as “no politician would like to reduce it to one from two, and laws are made by parliamentarians.”
