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Bill to ban defections in small states

Former Union minister Eduardo Faleiro, who is a Congress parliamentarian, plans to move a bill to amend the 10th schedule of the Constitution of India during this session of Parliament, banning defections in small states.

The amendment proposes that any legislator who wants to change his party has to vacate his seat and pave the way for a by-election, while seeking re-election. "I will restrict it to states having not more than 90 assembly seats," said Faleiro.

Small states like Goa have made a mockery of the anti-defection act, which was enforced to bar floor-crossing while allowing a democratic split only if one-third members of any legislature party wish to separate.

This has provided a free hand to Goa's legislators, as well as in several other small states, to split even with two or three members as the number of assembly seats made it easy to cross over.

Goa has only 40 benches in the House, having a party of even two or three members. In fact the United Goan's Democratic Party has 'vanished' from the House as both its members joined the Congress soon after last year's assembly polls.

On the other hand, the Congress rose to 26 from 21 by engineering two defections three months after the June elections while it is reduced to a mere five today as it split three times. Ten of its members have joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which was elected as the main opposition party, with 10 legislators.

While Goa has witnessed three governments in 11 months, two more assemblies which also witnessed two tenures of President's rule due to instability brought 10 governments to power in nine years.

In fact, all parties here have split or have admitted defectors into their fold. The defectors were just not simple legislators but even the Speaker, opposition leader and many holding ministerial positions.

"Defections do not take place on the basis of principles or against autocracy; it is purely greed for money," quipped Faleiro. He plans to move the amendment without Congress parliamentary party approval.

"Ironically, Ramakant Khalap, who as Union law minister was put on the job to amend the anti-defection act, has defected twice since June last," pointed out Dr Wilfred de Souza, the sole Nationalist Congress Party legislator, "moving from his regional party to the Congress, and to the BJP today."

As the Congress is not reacting to the series of splits within its ranks, Dr de Souza has now filed disqualification petitions against four ministers, including deputy chief minister Ravi Naik, who split from the Congress and merged its group into the BJP within 24 hours. Even Dr de Souza has been chief minister twice, by defecting from the Congress.

There are three more Congress splinter groups left now, including a leaderless Congress (Shaikh Hassan) and Congress (Venkatesh Desai) comprising three legislators. Hassan and Desai are already in the BJP.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of the BJP finds nothing unethical in it. "These splits are within the framework of the anti-defection act", he stated. He, however, did not object to a ban on defections, provided legislators are allowed to cross-vote on all issues, except financial bills and no-confidence motions, to avoid 'dictatorship'.

"The problem lies not only in loopholes of the act but the changing face of Indian politics. It has become a pure business where power is sold and purchased in the market of politics while defections have become like a TV serial," comments Dr Peter de Souza, head of department of political science at Goa University.

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