Defection Politics in India :A Threat to the Stability of Democracy

Sharon.S, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,

St.Stephen’s College, Maloor College P.O., Pathanapuram-689695, Kollam District, Kerala.
s.sharon41@yahoo.com

Abstract

Defection means the transfer of allegiance by a legislator from one political party
to another. Traditionally, the idea of floor-crossing is synonymous to the term. The
rapid rise in the effective number of parties, changes in the relative strength of the
national and regional parties and the political equations between them, the inability
of any one party to control the Parliament, and the presence of different parties and
different patterns of party competition in states have impacted the course of India’s
democratization and governance. The evil of political defections has been a matter
of national concern. If it is not combated, it is likely to undermine the very
foundations of our democracy and the principles which sustain it. It is imperative
that political parties open their eyes to growing calls for electoral political reforms
and take steps towards bringing in intra-party democracy which will reduce
defection in candidates and in turn strengthens our national political system.

Introduction

Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power

directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body,
such as a Parliament. It is also referred as “rule of the majority”. Here the power
can’t be inherited. People elect their leaders. Representatives stand in an election
and the citizens vote for their representative. The representative with the most
number of votes gets the power. It presupposes a republican form of government,
and free and fair elections based on universal adult suffrage. The legitimate
contention is that a united opposition in legislatures is a sine qua non in a
democratic system of government to check arbitrary actions and misuse of powers.
This contention is predicated on the premise that democracy envisages pluarlity of
political parties. But too many political parties or the mushroom growth of political
parties may ultimately prove to be not a boon but a bane.

It is not sincere ideological convictions or ideological differences but political

opportunism that has been chiefly responsible for the proliferation of political
parties in our country. Personality clashes have also contributed in no small
measure to the vivisection of political parties and have paved the way for the birth
of new parties having no substantial or, at times, even marginal differences with
their parent or original organization. While multiple parties and a strong
opposition, undoubtedly, enliven democratic debates and discussions over vital
issues of national importance, too many political parties without any coherent
ideology may also undermine party discipline and wreck the organizational base
of political parties.

It is incontestable that political parties, apart from an ideological base, also have a
sound organisational base. Political parties are always engaged in a political
movement, subtly, at times, though. It is the organisation that endows them with
the requisite power to enforce discipline amongst its members while the movement
provides the political party the required vitality. Both are essential since elections
in a democracy are fought on party lines. Both power and vitality may be lost if the
members of the party without serious ideological convictions can switch allegiance
at will because there are any number of political parties competing each other to
welcome the disgruntled in other political parties. It has to be noted, however, that
this change of allegiance by members of political parties may, sometimes, be war
ranted because of suppression of dissent within the organisation or may be
because the party has departed from its professed ideology or ideological path.
Such a change of allegiance is termed as “defection”.

The rapid rise in the effective number of parties, changes in the relative strength of
the national and regional parties and the political equations between them, the
inability of any one party to control the parliament, and the presence of different
parties and different patterns of party competition in states have impacted the
course of India’s democratization and governance. The rise of regional parties to
power in states and their prominent role in the coalition governments at the centre
has brought state-level agendas and electoral prospects into play at the national
level .In joining and partaking in coalitions, the main consideration for regional
parties is whether or not such a step will augment their electoral prospects in their
home state. This scenario is considered as a ‘revolving door’ with both spatial and
temporal dimensions. These frequent shifts in coalition partners indicate that
Indian parties are yet to devise norms for sharing power and forging durable
alliances.

Anti –Defection Law

The Tenth Schedule of Indian Constitution is popularly known

as the Anti-Defection Act. Original constitution had no such provisions. It was
included in the Constitution in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government. The main
intent of the law was to deter “the evil of political defections” by legislators
motivated by the lure of office or other similar considerations.The grounds for
disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law are

 a) If an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political

party;
 b) If he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any
direction issued by his political party or anyone authorised to do so, without
obtaining prior permission.

The Tenth Schedule to the Constitution was challenged before the Supreme Court
in the Kihoto Hollohan .vs Zachillhu And Others on 18 February, 1992.The
main challenge to the Tenth Schedule was mounted on the polemic of violation of
the free speech right of legislators guaranteed under Articles 105 and 194 of the
Constitution. The Constitution Bench, by a majority judgment, held that
unprincipled and unscrupulous political defections are to be contained and the
legislators’ freedom of speech can be reasonably curtailed for the larger interest of
the nation. The legislators, who fought and won elections on the basis of the
programmes and policies of the political party, are not supposed to do floor
crossing midway through the term of the government. The political instability
contributed by large scale political defection was in fact a threat to democracy
which many a time reduced the concept of democracy to a mockery. .
.An anti-defection law recognizes the role of political parties in a parliamentary
democracy. This is based on the assumption that when elections happen, it is the
political parties that go before the electorate with particular programmes or
manifestoes, set up their candidates and spend funds on election campaigning.
When these candidates get elected, political propriety demands that they continue
to support the party and its policies, promoting party discipline. Further, it has been
argued that the strength of a political party depends upon the strength of its shared
beliefs. Public confidence in a party may be undermined if different members of a
party are found holding disparate opinions on important legislative and policy
issues.In India, prior to the 1985 anti-defection law, there was no mention of
political parties in the Constitution.

After 2010,the assembly election scenario in various states of India revealed the
fact that voters have no strong, single-party preference, which act as a testimony
to the influence of the multiplicity of parties that crowd the Indian political stage.
Such verdicts have led to protracted periods of uncertainty and negotiations
between leaders of national political parties, those of regional parties, and winning
candidates.
Winners can be spirited away to luxury hotels located miles from the capital city
and kept under heavy guard in what is known as “resort politics", candidates feign
illness or go on “vacation", bargains are struck, candidates switch sides,
governments are toppled and governments are formed. One of the main reasons
this practice has been able to flourish is that the anti-defection law is allowed to be
violated by the ruling party. The law says a defector can be disqualified by the
Speaker on the basis of a petition by any other member of the House. However, the
practice of naming Speakers from the ruling party (which immediately
compromises the independence bestowed on this office in democracies, but that’s
another story) means defections are allowed in nearly all circumstances, with no
regard for the motive behind defections.

Strengthening inner party democracy for curbing defection

The roots of the most pertinent challenges faced by Indian politics today can be
traced to the lack of intra-party democracy in candidate selection and party
elections.The absence of intra-party democracy has contributed to political parties
becoming closed autocratic structures with increasing fragmentation within parties,
selection of poor electoral representatives and growing criminalisation and abuse
of financial power in elections. As there is no well-defined process for the
distribution of tickets to candidates before elections, tickets are given to candidates
on the vague concept of winnability. .

Internal Elections in Political Parties

The Representation of People Act, 1951, was amended in 1989 to include Section
29, which deals with the provisions for registration of political parties with the
Election Commission of India. Section 29 (A) (9) dealing with the internal
elections states, “after an association or body has been registered as a political
party as aforesaid, any change in its name, head office, office-bearers, address or in
any other material matters shall be communicated to the Commission without
delay.”

The Election Commission sent a letter in April 2011 to all political parties asking
them to send details of the internal organisational elections held in the parties. An
analysis of the data received by the Election Commission of India for internal
elections held in the six national political parties by the author provides a dismal
picture. The data presents an incomplete picture as the parties have been merely
providing the number of delegates who attended the session, the office bearers
elected (name and posts) and the date for the next elections. The data does not
provide detailed information on the nature of elections such as close ballot or
unanimous nomination .

Intra-Party Democracy: Recommendations for Indian Political Parties

A number of committees set up to suggest electoral political reforms have
recommended introduction of intra-party democracy mechanisms in recruitment of
members and candidates; elections for important party posts such as secretary,
treasurer and president; consultations with party members on deciding party
agenda; fund raising and spending and providing opportunities for young
politicians to climb hierarchy ranks.

The 170th report of the Law Commission of India on reform of electoral laws,

dedicated an entire chapter on the necessity of providing laws relating to internal
democracy within parties. It states, “If democracy and accountability constitute the
core of our constitutional system, the same concepts must also apply to and bind
the political parties which are integral to parliamentary democracy. It is the
political parties that form the government, man the Parliament and run the
governance of the country. It is therefore, necessary to introduce internal
democracy, financial transparency and accountability in the working of the
political parties. A political party which does not respect democratic principles in
its internal working cannot be exposed to respect those principles in the
governance of the country. It cannot be dictatorship internally and democratic in its
functioning outside.

Politics is inseparable from political parties as they are the prime instruments for
the execution of democracy in the country. The selection of candidates, the
mobilization of the electorate, the formulation of agendas and the passing of
legislation are all conducted through political parties. They are the only
organizations in the country that seek, compete for, and acquire power over state
apparatus, control over public funds, government bureaucracy and legislative
mechanisms. It is therefore surprising how little has been done to strengthen the
processes of institutionalization of intra-party democracy in political parties in
India. It is imperative that political parties open their eyes to growing calls for
electoral political reforms and take steps towards bringing in intra-party democracy
which will reduce defection in candidates and in turn strengthens our national
system.

References

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https://www.livemint.com.

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