24 Nov 2021  |   06:53am IST

Is the cause of justice served, if decisions on disqualification of MLAs are not taken during the same Assembly term?

Defections will continue to bite the very party that has encouraged them the most
Is the cause of justice served, if decisions on disqualification of MLAs are not taken during the same Assembly term?

When an MLA gets votes from the majority of voters on a party ticket and turns the entire letter and spirit of democracy upside down by joining the very forces people have voted against, there should be no room for these betrayers in the political system. However, for so many years, these very people play with the system and the Anti-Defection Act and continue to enjoy the benefits of office, even after betraying the people.

If defectors must be disqualified, then the legislative and legal system must do it on time 

The tragedy of our democracy is that those who beat the system win, and they do so repeatedly. Powerful parties with endless resources can literally decide if they want the pace of investigations and can literally manage the pace of investigations if they so desire.

Therefore to ensure that democracy survives and the will of the people really prevails, the law should be amended to allow for immediate disqualification as MLA upon defection after being elected, and within the term of the Assembly.

But till that is done, let us honestly ask. Does it serve the cause of justice if those who have clearly betrayed the people continue till the end of their term because the disqualification cases against them are not completed? 

They continue to enjoy the pay and perks of their offices. In many ways the presence of these MLAs in office is a forgery on the people. People say that MLAs have secured themselves for generations by using their officers to help themselves. This is a slap on democratic principles

In the case of the defector MLAs, the BJP must tell the people if they have “really served”

It is not just the case of the 10 MLAs who left the Congress and joined the BJP over two years ago. During the term of this Assembly, the BJP has to tell the people of Goa, whether every MLA who has been brought over from other parties through defections starting from Vishwajit Rane to Dayanand Sopte to Subhash Shirodkar, to those who in spirit violated the mandate they got, whether they have served the people. 

People have not seen development. They have seen electrical poles come up for unfinished bridges because politician’s pockets are charged

Is this what people vote for? Is this the future they seek? If the answer is no, why can’t parties have the collective will to stop defections? The tragedy is that it is not just the ruling party; no party has the will to stop defections because all benefit from it sometime or the other.

The politicians need to answer this. People honour you; give you a position which a negligible percentage of people in this country get – an elected position to serve. Who gives you the right to deface and insult that honour by literally kicking the people’s will for personal greed?

When those we elect do not deliver, people will select activists and activism as the route to get justice

Activists are ordinary citizens who get out of their comfort zone and lose all their sleep for a cause that is higher than themselves.  Across Goa, people are rising and fighting for basic issues like coal pollution, corruption, loss of identity and so many issues because the politicians elected by the people have betrayed. Herald will always be with those who fight the people’s fight, democratically.

If they do not give tickets to these defectors, the answer will be clear. That they have not served people and giving them tickets will be a liability. In that case, will the ruling party apologise to the people of Goa that they engineered defections for the sole purpose of adding their numbers and now no longer need them because the people do not need them? When elections are far away, parties can play with people, when they are three months away they have to listen to the people.

However, there is a price to be paid. Defections hurt the very core of the party that indulges in them

One of the main reasons why the BJP is being questioned by their core cadre about why party loyalists and workers have been sidelined is because defectors have gained power and currency within the party. Can you imagine a situation that the son of Manohar Parrikar, who the party considers its tallest leader ever, will have to literally plead for the BJP ticket from Panjim, while Babush Monserrate, whose party affiliations can change by the day, holds sway? It is no secret that a large section of grassroots party workers is upset with how things stand. They can’t seem to be able to even figure what is wrong with their party or who they can go to for guidance and solace.

Mandrem: Loyalist veteran waits all alone for a ticket while defector newcomer almost assured of a ticket

In Mandrem former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is almost living in denial that the party would still give him a ticket in the face of a near humiliation of Devendra Fadnavis reportedly telling supporters of his betrayer rival Sopte that they needn’t worry about their leader’s ticket. What signal does this give to loyal party workers?

When your very own ask if your party is cadre-based or defector based, it is time to think seriously

The ruling party needs to introspect whether winning is everything, even at the cost of losing your most prized asset – loyal and dedicated cadres. By choosing winnability are parties losing their basic essence of service and sacrifice? And does this craze for winnability at all costs, weaken the spine of any party? These are questions that should give parties sleepless nights.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar