Can A Minister Be Appointed While There Is A Code?

Hyderabad, Oct 30 (Maxim News); While by-elections are being held for an assembly seat in the state, can someone be appointed as a state minister? Is this not a violation of the election code of conduct in force in that assembly seat?  Can the Governor appoint a new minister as per the recommendations of the Chief Minister even though the election code is in force? Sources in the office of the Chief Election Officer (CEO) have clarified that the Central Election Commission will have to answer these doubts.

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While the by-elections for the Jubilee Hills assembly seat are scheduled for the 11th of next month, the Congress government in the state has decided to swear in former cricketer Muhammad Azharuddin as a minister of state on the 31st of this month.  While the Congress will complete two years in power in the state on the 7th of next December, there has been no place for Muslims in the state cabinet till now.  The candidates of the major parties are trying to woo the Muslim voters who have a significant number in the Jubilee Hills assembly seats.  in this situation, it is interesting that the government will appoint Azharuddin as a minister.

Can a new minister be appointed in the cabinet while the electoral code is in force in the state? Have similar incidents happened in the past? What did the Election Commission do then?  Former Central Election Commission Commissioner Ashok Lavasa recently cleared the doubts in a lecture given in Hyderabad.  Interesting things were revealed to this extent in the memorial lecture of the founder of the organization ‘Ajay Gandhi’ organized under the auspices of Manthan on September 13 at Vidya Aranya School in the city.  

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Earlier, when by-elections were being held for an assembly seat in Goa, the then CM Manohar Parrikar decided to appoint a person from a community with a significant number of voters in tht seat as a Minister of State.  Ashok Lavasa revealed that the then Chief Election Commissioner of the Central Election Commission directly called Manohar Parrikar and asked him to postpone the swearing in ceremony of the new minister until the by-elections were over.  he recalled that Manohar Parrikar replied, “Can’t he even use the powers inherited from the Constitution to appoint ministers?”

Ashok lavasa said that Manohar parrikar backed down and postponed the swearing-in ceremony after the Chief Commissioner insisted that if a new minister is sworn in during the elections, it would affect the voters of that community.  When reporters sought the response of the CEO’s office on the news that the government has decided to appoint a new minister in the state, they replied that if they receive any complaints on this, they will send it to the Central Election Commission. They said that action will be taken as per the EC’s orders. (Maxim News)  

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