Members of Legislative Assembly and political parties have become adept at using and bypassing the anti-defection law. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· The Rajasthan High Court’s stay on defection proceedings drew criticism for being contrary to previous Supreme Court decisions. In Manipur, there has been criticism of the Speaker’s handling of defection proceedings.
· The anti-defection law is supposed to deter MLAs from defecting from their political parties. They can lose their seats in the legislature for defying their party. And if declared a defector, they cannot become a minister in a government for six months.
· Six Congress MLAs defied their party’s whip by absenting themselves from the confidence vote in the Manipur assembly. Their absence led to the government surviving the confidence motion, contrary to their party’s stand.
· After that, they resigned from the legislature neatly sidestepping being labelled a defector under the law. If they win a by-election to the assembly, there will be no bar for them to become a minister.
· Political parties who are at the heart of our politics have no liability under the law. They benefit from defections and are often accused of enticing MLAs of rival parties to switch loyalties. Other enactments responsible for the cleansing of our politics face a similar problem.
· There are limits on electoral spending by a candidate. But these limits apply only to candidates. Political parties can spend an unlimited amount on behalf of their candidates. Individuals convicted with a prison term of over two years cannot stand for elections. But there is no restriction on political parties to give tickets to individuals who face criminal charges which are pending before courts.
· Political issues require political solutions. So far, we have taken a legalistic approach to addressing the problem of defection. Political parties seek protection of the anti-defection provisions when aggrieved and undermine them when it is convenient.
· In Rajasthan, after the patch up, it is unlikely that there will be any interest in discussing the fundamental issues around defection before the High Court. Therefore, it is time that political parties stopped using the crutches of the anti-defection law to fix problems related to their internal democracy, dissent and discipline.
PRASHANT KUMAR 4 years
Pls Review Sir
IAS Parliament 4 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
K. V. A 4 years
Pls review
IAS Parliament 4 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
