Once a discredited observe in West Bengal, the “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” tradition has made deep inroads within the state, with many legislators not dealing with any motion below the anti-defection legislation over the previous decade, typically on the ground. was seen crossing. .
Speaker Biman Banerjee agreed that there was no occasion of disqualification of an MLA on grounds of defection within the final ten years, however didn’t elaborate additional.
“It is true that the Assembly has not registered any disqualification case for changing the camp since 2011. But I will not go into details,” the three-time speaker informed PTI.
The newest flashpoint is the defection of veteran chief Mukul Roy, who received the March-April meeting election on a BJP ticket however joined the TMC earlier this month.
The saffron celebration, on its half, filed a petition earlier than the Speaker in search of Roy’s disqualification, solely to obtain criticism from the ruling TMC, which stated that MPs Shishir Adhikari and Sunil Mandal, who had been in energy earlier than the meeting elections Joined the BJP, had earlier left the membership of the Lok Sabha.
According to political pundits, because the rise of the TMC in Bengal, switching events, a observe seen earlier than 2010, has grow to be nearly frequent.
He stated greater than 4 dozen MLAs of Congress, Left Front and TMC switched sides within the fifteenth and sixteenth Vidhan Sabhas between 2011 and 2021.
In the sixteenth Assembly alone, 24 out of 44 Congress MLAs and eight out of 32 Left MLAs joined the TMC or the BJP.
However, solely 12 disqualification petitions had been filed by the Congress and one by the CPI(M).
In many circumstances, events have averted submitting disqualification petitions for “fear of losing the status of the main opposition party in the Assembly”.
Former Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan informed PTI that the anti-defection legislation “has turned into a joke” below the rule of the BJP on the Center and the TMC within the state.
“Unfortunately, no action was taken by the Speaker in the disqualification cases that we had filed over the years. We stopped doing this after sometime as it would have hurt the strength of our party in the House. We could have lost the opposition party status,” Mannan stated.
Giving an instance, former Left Front Legislature Party chief Sujan Chakraborty stated that Left MLA Dipali Biswas, who had entered the TMC simply after the 2016 Assembly elections, was elected to the House solely to depart the celebration for the saffron camp final yr. proceed as a member. , regardless of 26 hearings on his disqualification case.
“When no action was taken against them, we understood that the speaker was not ready to take any initiative. We have stopped giving such applications. At the end of the day, it is a matter of political will,” he stated.
The Anti-Defection Act, 1985 states {that a} member of the House belonging to any political celebration shall be disqualified if he has voluntarily given up the membership of any political celebration, opposite to any route to vote within the House or refrains from voting. Issued by the celebration he represents, and if a consultant of a sure political celebration joins one other group after the election.
As per legislation, the speaker’s choice is remaining, however there is no such thing as a time restrict for him to reach at any choice. A celebration can transfer the court docket, however solely after the speaker broadcasts his choice.
“The speaker not being certain by any time restrict is a loophole that the BJP and TMC have taken benefit of. The legislation must be reconsidered after 36 years.
However, the ruling TMC accused the opposition Congress and CPI(M) of not doing their homework correctly earlier than shifting the disqualification petitions. It sought to distinguish between these becoming a member of the ruling celebration and people becoming a member of the saffron camp.
“Their disqualification petitions would have yielded no result as they had failed to prove their cases. Also, if an elected member wants to be a part of the development process initiated by the TMC government, you cannot blame us,” stated Kunal Ghosh, state basic secretary of the Mamata Banerjee-led celebration.
“Those who’ve come to BJP in change for one thing simply earlier than the meeting elections and who’ve joined our camp for years, can’t be put in a single bracket. If BJP is so critical in regards to the legislation then they need to first take motion towards Shishir Adhikari and Sunil Mandal.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh blamed the TMC for normalizing the defection.
“Since 2011, TMC has carried out defection of a number of MLAs utilizing each cash and muscle energy. Was it in accordance with the legislation? TMC ought to reply this.
The first occasion of defection will be traced again to 1952 when 4 MLAs from the Forward Block joined the Congress after the primary meeting elections within the state. He resigned from his posts, which led to by-elections.
However, nationwide consideration was drawn to former Chief Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghosh’s choice to tug out of the United Front authorities led by the Bangla Congress and CPI(M) in 1967 with 17 MLAs.
Ghosh and different legislators later joined the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), which led to the collapse of the United Front authorities.
In the years that adopted, nonetheless, there have been no main camp modifications till 1998, when a piece of Congress leaders, led by Mamata Banerjee, shaped the Trinamool Congress.
Between 1998 and 2001, many Congress MLAs who joined the TMC adopted the previous celebration whip contained in the meeting to keep away from disqualification below the anti-defection legislation, however acted as TMC leaders outdoors.
After 2011, nonetheless, there was widespread defection within the state, as a number of Congress and Left legislators made a approach for the TMC.
The development modified after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP registered a stellar efficiency within the Lok Sabha elections, and have become a sexy vacation spot for the elected representatives of the TMC.
A senior TMC chief stated the celebration wouldn’t carry ahead the ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram’ tradition, which was coined by Haryana MLA Gaya Lal in 1967 after altering his celebration thrice inside a fortnight, and as an alternative, “Pick and Cho” coverage.
Underlining that defection has grow to be a “fashion” in Indian politics, retired Supreme Court Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly, when contacted, stated that it may be corrected solely by strengthening the legislation.
“There is a need to rethink the law, as the realities of Indian politics have changed drastically since 1985. There should be a definite time limit for the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions,” he stated.
Echoing him, political analyst Suman Bhattacharya puzzled whether or not the BJP, which is on the Centre, would provoke any course of to amend the legislation because it “benefited immensely” from the tradition of states the place the celebration doesn’t have an absolute majority. have been discovered.
Political scientist Vishwanath Chakraborty believes that each TMC and BJP needs to be equally blamed for making enjoyable of the legislation.
He additional stated that the saffron celebration is tasting its personal medication in Bengal because it had inducted many politicians earlier than the meeting elections who now need to be a part of the profitable group.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
