12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya defect to TMC
- November 27, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya defect to TMC
Context: This week 12 of INC’s 17 MLAs in the state of Meghalaya defected to the TMC. In the process INC lost its status of the principal opposition party. The Trinomial is now the largest opposition party in Meghalaya.
Concept:
What is defection?
- Political defections are one of the most ubiquitous phenomena of democratic politics in India. Political defections, which denotes a change of political loyalty of a party legislator or group of legislators who switch over to another party in the inter-election years, have formidable bearing on the nature of party system and electoral representation in a democracy.
- The proliferation of such practices resulted in the enactment of the anti-defection law in India in 198 Thereafter, the subsequent unfolding of political developments revealed that the anti-defection legislation has largely failed to stall the menace of defections and it continues to take place unabated even today.
- With the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party as the dominant political force in Indian politics since 2014,a plethora of defections from the politically weaker Congress party and other regional parties who joined the BJP at various points of times in the last six years, have continued the trend.
- Anti-Defection Law:
- The anti-defection law punishes individual MPs/MLAs for leaving one party for another. It allows a group of MP/MLAs to join (i.e. merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection.
- The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by 52nd amendment. It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House. Disqualification:
- If a member of a house belonging to a political party voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, or Votes, or does not vote in the legislature, contrary to the directions of his political party. However, if the member has taken prior permission, or is condoned by the party within 15 days from such voting or abstention, the member shall not be disqualified.
- If an independent candidate joins a political party after the election.
- If a nominated member joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the legislature.
- 91st amendment act of 2003
- The total number of ministers including the Prime minister in the central council of ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Loksabha/State legislative assembly. (Article 75,164). However in states number of ministers shall not be less than 12.
- A member disqualified under defection is also disqualified for being a minister in house.
- The member disqualified on the grounds of defection shall also be disqualified for any remunerative political post, office wholly or partially under the government .
- The provision regarding one third was also deleted by this amendment.
- Exceptions under the law: Legislators may change their party without the risk of disqualification in certain circumstances. The law allows a party to merge with or into another party provided that at least two-thirds of its legislators are in favour of the merger. In such a scenario, neither the members who decide to merge, nor the ones who stay with the original party will face disqualification.
- The law initially stated that the decision of the Presiding Officer is not subject to judicial review. This condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan case in 1992, thereby allowing appeals against the Presiding Officer’s decision in the High Court and Supreme Court.