Political defections in India have become a new normal. Anti-defection law appears to simply stare at the defectors helplessly. Out of mere greed, at the cost of political values and ethics, elected representatives switch their parties.
When these politicians sense that their party is unlikely to reach the corridors of power and its future is bleak, they simply jump over to other greener pastures. It’s not only unfortunate but also dangerous to democracy, and it shows nobody is interested in the development of the society or nation.
These politicians just want to serve themselves and do not adhere to any party’s ideology. What is more worrisome is that they have mastered the art of manipulating their voter base by analysing the demographics of their constituencies and have also become experts in buying votes. If left unchecked, it has the potential to erode the fundamental tenets of our democracy and its foundation. Despite having a great rule of ethics in the form of our Constitution, politicians are somewhat unethical these days.
The synonym of defection, ‘Aya Ram Gaya Ram’ has now an improved version, ‘Paltu Ram’. What a shame! The infamous ‘Operation Lotus’ is the art of creating defections, breaking opposite parties, and killing two birds with one arrow. ‘Horse trading’ term has lost its bitterness.
Defection is not confined to one particular party. The national-level parties especially try to woo the regional party members and even topple the governments through defections.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana is now facing a crisis with defections similar to what the Congress and Telugu Desam Party experienced in 2015 and 2018. With the defection of SerilingampallyMLA Arekapudi Gandhi,the Congress strength in the Assembly has now shot up to 75, which includes 65 MLAs elected on the party’s ticket, one CPI member, and nine migrants from the BRS.
Fishing in the troubled waters, the BJP is, reportedly, wooing the BRS lawmakers, promising them Cabinet posts if the BJP comes to power in the next Assembly elections and contracts in BJP-ruled states.
In a blatant misuse of the anti-defection law, 38 MLAs and 18 MLCs from Opposition parties had defected to BRS between 2014 and 2023 but none was disqualified. Indeed, some were rewarded with ministerial berths.
In yester years,Puducherry, Maharashtra and Karnataka have also witnessed political turmoil in a consequence of defections.
The anti-defection law was enacted through the introduction of the Tenth Schedule in the Constitution of India in 1985 to combat the “evil of political defections”. The main purpose was to preserve the stability of governments. The law deals with situations of defection in Parliament or state legislatures by members of a political party, independent members, and nominated members. In limited circumstances, the law allows legislators to change their party without incurring the risk of disqualification.
Paragraph 2.2 states that any member, after being elected as a representative of a certain political party, shall be disqualified if he/she joins any other political party after the election. Similarly, when a member votes or abstains from any crucial voting contrary to the directive circulated by his/her respective political party, disqualification holds good.
Paragraph 2.3 states that a nominated member shall be disqualified if he/she joins any political party after six months from the date he/she takes his seat.
Para 3 states that after amending the schedule by the Ninety-first Amendment Act – 2003, which exempted disqualifications arising out of splits with one-third of the members defecting from a political party.
Disqualification on the ground of defection is not to be applied in case of merger, as per para 4. This paragraph excludes from disqualification in the case of mergers of political parties. Provided if the said merger is with two-thirds of the members of the legislative party who have consented to merge with another political party.
Meaningful Changes Needed
The whip carried out by the political parties goes against the concept of representative democracy. The elected representatives are agents of the voters and are expected to vote according to the wishes and for the benefit of their constituents. Their duty to their constituents is to exercise their judgement on various issues towards the broader public interest. The anti-defection law makes them neither a delegate of the constituency nor a national legislator but converts them to be just an agent of the party.
The elected representatives are neither accountable to their voters nor have they any threat of losing their seats after getting elected once. They are not at all the choice of the people in the true sense, at the first instance. They are imposed upon the voters by political parties. The way party tickets are obtained these days is no secret. People with solid criminal records like rape, murder and cheat, etc. get party tickets, mostly due to their power to strengthen the party funds. Such criminals contest even from jails and after getting elected become bosses of the police officers who had dealt with them in the police lockups and jails, making a mockery of the criminal justice system also.
Values and ethics have been pushed to the back seat in politics. Some meaningful and drastic changes in laws are badly required to make our democracy worthy.