Reform anti-defection law, need to respect people's mandate: Opposition RS members

New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Monday called for reforms in anti-defection law, highlighting the need to respect the mandate of the people.

Participating in a discussion on election reforms, KR Suresh Reddy (BRS) and John Brittas of CPI(M) said not delivering on promises made in election manifesto amounts to "literally cheating the voter" and defections raise questions on "the purity of elections".

"The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing inspite of two major constitutional amendments, has been anti-defection," Reddy said.

Asserting that a voter's job does not end after voting, he said, "We have to respect the voter. What is happening in voting (elections) today is, once the election ends then the drama begins." Defection is the name of the game, specially in smaller states, specially when the legislators are small in number, he lamented, adding that his party BRS has been calling for reforms in anti-defection laws.

To ensure that "anti-defection is water tight", he suggested a parliamentary committee that would constantly look into defection, how defection is evolving and find ways and means of cutting that.

"Why not have a committee and continue to take this up?" he asked, reminding the Upper House of how "the Supreme Court was compelled to interfere" in an anti-defection matter.

He further asked, "Why allow the court, which has already become overburdened, to come into a jurisdiction which is purely the parliamentary domain?" Noting that legislators who defect do not live up to the promises made in the manifesto of the party on whose tickets they were elected, Reddy said, "Promising the sky in the election manifesto and delivering nothing is literally cheating the voter... and in my opinion is the real 'vote chori'." Expressing similar views, Brittas of CPI(M) asserted that even after elections are over, the mandate needs to be respected.

"When horse trading happens, when mass defections happen, when resorts become sanctum sanctorum, the purity of elections are in question. So how to deal with that?" he asked.

Brittas noted that earlier the anti-defection law "prevented retail defection, now wholesale defection is happening".

Responding to the Opposition members' call, Sanjay Kumar Jha of the JD(U) recollected the instance of February 2005 Bihar elections that resulted in a hung assembly.

He claimed that Nitish Kumar got the support to form a government but then UPA government at the Centre led by late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through a midnight Cabinet meeting imposed President's rule in the state.

"No MLA took oath... those MLAs, till date are not even considered ex-MLAs but they are called 'abhutpurv MLAs' because they could not take oath," Jha noted.

They won elections but Congress did such a job that they could not take oath as President's rule was imposed in the state, he said. PTI RKL TRB