Recent days and months have witnessed a rising trend of political desertions, prompting affected parties to seek a review of India's anti-defection law, popularly known as the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Wave of Defections Across Parties
The saga of defections began on April 24 with seven Aam Aadmi Party members in Rajya Sabha breaking away from the parent legislature party and merging with the BJP, all in a single day. Then came a stream of defections in Tamil Nadu, where several AIADMK MLAs quit the Dravidian outfit to align with the newly formed TVK led by Joseph Vijay, which won assembly elections. Almost simultaneously, the once formidable Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was hit by a wave of betrayals, first by 58 of her 80 party MLAs in West Bengal and later by 20 of the party's 28 Lok Sabha members in Delhi.
Legal Provisions Under Strain
In both cases, the legislature parties split by two-thirds of the original strength and claimed existence as a separate group under the anti-defection law's provisions, which state that a two-thirds split opens doors for recognition as an independent bloc. While the 58 rebel MLAs wrote to the Bengal speaker claiming they were the real Trinamool, 20 rebel MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urging to be treated as a separate group backing the BJP-led NDA in the Lower House. As these events unfold, signs are surfacing of a potential split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena UBT as well.
Opposition Leaders Demand Review
With the anti-defection law and its provisions under constant strain, opposition leaders and legal experts now say the latest developments warrant a review of the controversial legislation. Two senior lawyers who are also MPs, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress and Kapil Sibal, an independent MP, have described ongoing developments across parties as inexplicable and against the statutes. Both argue that elected rebels, whether MLAs or MPs, must resign their seats and seek re-election on the symbol of the party they wish to join. Alternatively, those who have resigned and decided to form a separate faction must be disqualified by the Speaker of the assembly or the Lok Sabha.
Singhvi's Stance on Conceptual Distortion
Singhvi has gone to the extent of describing the current trend as a huge, complete, and ridiculous conceptual distortion of the anti-defection law, stating it is time to change the law. He said, "This distortion is that anywhere any legislature party, if two-thirds of its members walk out and form a group, then the anti-defection law doesn't apply. This is the most ridiculously wrong interpretation and is based on complete ignorance or deliberate non-understanding of the existing law, which has been decided by the Supreme Court." Opposition leaders also cite the famous 2002 Shiv Sena judgment of the Supreme Court to argue that there is no concept of a simple two-thirds split in the legislature party that would prevent the application of the anti-defection law on defectors, who would still be subject to disqualification.
Challenges in Implementation
While both senior lawyers point to Supreme Court judgments and the anti-defection law itself to argue that desertions by two-thirds of the legislature party do not automatically lead to a recognized split, they also admit that in the current political scenario, the process is the punishment. Regarding the 20 TMC MPs who broke away and wrote to the Speaker for recognition, Singhvi says Mamata Banerjee can file a complaint against the rebels. However, in the prevailing political system where the Speaker is a nominee of the ruling party, it is likely that the Speaker will admit the rebels' claim and reject Mamata's. Trends suggest that in past cases of desertions, dissidents have been recognized as the formal party, as seen with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the late Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP in Maharashtra.
Call for Amendment
The law states that once the Speaker grants recognition to rebels, the original party can move court against the decision. But courts take three to four years to adjudicate, by which time the political landscape has changed. Citing these challenges, Singhvi says it is time to repeal the Tenth Schedule and amend it to require that any MLA or MP elected on a party's symbol who indulges in anti-party activities or joins another party must resign and contest elections afresh. This is what the TMC has urged the rebels to do: exhibit moral courage, resign their seats, contest on BJP symbols, and return to Lok Sabha as BJP MPs.
