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In Goa, defections are par for the course

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap, an old hand at engineering switches in political affiliations in Goa, is now in the odd position of having to demand a stop to the "menace of defections."

Partly due to his efforts, Goa has run through seven chief ministers in five years. Khalap, state Opposition leader in 1990, engineered the first split in the ruling Congress party to form a coalition with his Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party.

He became deputy chief minister of a cabinet consisting of 30 per cent of the legislators, and the former speaker, Dr Luis Proto Barbosa, was elevated to chief ministership. Nine months later, the House appointed Dr Kashinath Jhalmi, the current Opposition leader, to decide on Barbosa's disqualification petition. Jhalmi turned his thumb down and that was the end of Barbosa. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict and restricted speakers from becoming part of the splinter group.

Barbosa was clearly the fall guy. Charges against others in the splinter group were simply dismissed by the speakers that followed, at different times.

"Goa has even seen speakers threatening chief ministers. They threatened to disqualify members of the splinter group supporting the government," says Jhalmi who adds that he has no faith in any speaker now.

The record of Goan speakers in those five years is not very encouraging. Deciding against 11 petitions filed on different occasions, four MLAs were disqualified while three of them were "requalified" by their successors. Few petitions were dismissed though two cases were never decided upon.

Ravi Naik, one of the seven chief ministers, who had split from the MGP to join hands with the Congress, was disqualified within 19 days by Surendra Sirsat, the MGP speaker. Two others of the same splinter group followed him in two days.

Simon D'Souza, his successor, brought them all back in. Then, four days later, the high court intervened to stay their re-entry. Ultimately, the Supreme Court let Naik remained disqualified the two others.

As speakers are getting such a bad reputation, Khalap has now proposed to the United Front steering committee, that speakers be made to decide upon disqualification petitions within a definite time span.

"It will have no effect as any speaker is bound to be biased towards his party," states Tomazinho Cardozo, the current Goa speaker whose own election is controversial. Cardozo calls for the scrapping of the anti-defection act and the automatic disqualification of people who defect. "Let them resign and face fresh elections," he adds.

Probably because all the parties are fed up with the petition business, Cardozo has no petition before him now, despite the Congress having engineered three splits since 1995, all of which have benefited the Pratapsing Rane government.

Now that his government is secure, Rane now wants to put an end to defections. "The act must be amended drastically; nobody should be allowed to defect after getting elected."

After watching MLAs merrily criss-cross the floor of the House, Jhalmi admits the constitutional right to dissent has been misused. The price being the post of minister or chairman of a corporation, with a 'suitcase' as a bonus.

Jhalmi has suggested to Khalap that disqualification petitions be handed to an all-party tribunal of MLAs or MPs, appointed by the governor or the President. Till the tribunal decides on the matter, the MLAs should be deemed disqualified, he feels. Alternatively, he suggests, scrap the provision allowing any non-member to hold a ministerial berth and then seek the people's mandate in six months.

Khalap now has to balance these and other views to arrive at a solution amenable to all.

Meanwhile, people in Goa are curious to know what amendments the Union law minister will ultimately propose in Parliament. With his past experience in finding the loopholes, he should have no problem plugging them.

EARLIER REPORT:
Anti-defection law: Law minister wants ministries to be pruned, speaker's role to be redefined

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