Polity

KEY POINTS

Necessity of Anti-defection law

·        Up to 1967 the cases of defection were 400 which subsequently rose to a figure of 500 odd cases of defection, in which 118 were by the persons who exercised a great amount of power and responsibility such as the Ministers or Ministers of State.

·        Therefore, in 1967, a committee was formed to deal with the issue of defection.

·        Subsequently Anti Defection law was framed –

·        To combat political defections

·        To provide stability to the government by preventing shifts of party allegiance.

·        To ensure that candidates elected with party support remain loyal to the party policies.

·        To promote party discipline.

Disadvantages of Anti-defection law

·        By preventing parliamentarians from changing parties, it reduces the accountability of the government to the Parliament and the people.

·        Interferes with the member’s freedom of speech and expression by curbing dissent against party policies.

·        It restricts representatives from voicing the concerns of their voters in opposition to the official party position.

·        Defections are mostly decided by Speaker, who is usually a member of the ruling party or coalition.

Solutions

·        The issue of disqualification should be decided by the President/ Governor on the binding advice of the Election Commission.

·        The term “voluntarily giving up membership” to be comprehensively defined.

·        Political parties should limit issuance of whips to instances only when the government is in danger.