The people may despair at the party hopping of the MLAs, but in the wake of the judgement of the High Court of Bombay at Goa that found no cause to interfere with the Speaker’s order that dismissed the disqualification petitions against 12 MLAs, it is clear that the political class has expertly managed to exploit the loopholes in the anti-defection law. The 12 MLAs against whom there were petitions of disqualification have reason to smile, what about the voters who elected them to the Legislative Assembly? Will they also choose to ignore the horse trading that took place during the current term of the Assembly?
The fate of the 12 MLAs who defected will be decided by the voters, in effect, the people’s court. In actuality it has already been decided on February 14 when the voting took place but the result will be revealed on March 10 when the votes that have been sealed in the electronic voting machines are counted. Whether the defectors will be re-elected or whether they will be shown the door, is what will be revealed on that day. If it is the former then it signifies that the people condone defections and even sanction it. If it is the latter, then it will indicate that the people condemn the defectors and defections.
The law has taken its course in the long defection saga and held that the Speaker had correctly dismissed the disqualification petitions before him. The defections were in 2019. While the petitions were still before the Speaker, the petitioner had approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Speaker that the case be expedited. The Speaker’s orders dismissing the petitions were challenged in the High Court of Bombay at Goa. The petitioners now say they will appeal in the Supreme Court. Whatever happens next will have no bearing on this Assembly term that has a little over a fortnight’s life before it is dissolved. Even the elections have been held and the votes sealed. It, however, can have an impact on horse trading post the results.
The defections of 2019 in two batches, when first two MLAs from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and later 10 from the Congress defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, have been discussed in detail, with a clear division among the discussants on whether what happened was right or wrong, but led to the parties from which they defected barring them from re-entry. Under the law, it has been determined to be right as procedures were fulfilled. That leaves the moral aspects involved and on the commitment made by the candidates to their voters at the time of elections, when they presented themselves as candidates of a particular party. The law does not take that into account, and that is why the verdict of the people will be known when the votes are counted.
Defections by MLAs, no matter what the party affiliation, should not be condoned for any reason, especially not for the flimsy excuse of development of the constituency. The anti-defection law enacted in 1985 was specifically meant to put an end to the political defections, but politicians with their floor crossing tactics that circumvent the provisions of the law have succeeded in making a mockery of the democratic process by which they are elected. The anti-defection provisions have not succeeded in curbing defections not because it is a bad law, but primarily because of the unprincipled politics that is played out in the State. And when the law is unable to stop the MLAs from defecting, it only encourages defections. The result of this will be evident in the months ahead, after the votes have been counted.
