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🇮🇳 India /Elections & Politics

Anti-defection law: Why 20 Trinamool MPs joining a party with no MPs is a constitutional puzzle

From Hindustan Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Twenty Trinamool Congress MPs have declared a merger with a party holding no seats, potentially to circumvent India's anti-defection law.
  • The move raises a constitutional question about whether legislators can declare a merger independently or if the party's agreement is required.
  • India's anti-defection law, introduced in 1985, disqualifies legislators who voluntarily give up party membership or defy party directives, with a merger exception requiring two-thirds legislative support.

A constitutional puzzle has emerged in India as twenty Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmakers have declared their merger with a political party that currently holds no seats in any legislative body. This maneuver, aimed at potentially sidestepping the anti-defection law, has ignited a debate over its legal validity and the interpretation of constitutional provisions.

The anti-defection law, enshrined in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution since 1985, was designed to curb political instability caused by legislators switching parties. It disqualifies lawmakers who voluntarily leave their party or vote against its whip in the legislature. Initially, a provision allowed for disqualification to be avoided if one-third of a party's legislative group broke away, but this was removed in 2003.

The law currently offers a single exception: a merger. According to Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, disqualification does not apply if the original political party merges with another, and at least two-thirds of the members of that party's legislative group agree to the merger. This suggests a two-pronged requirement: a decision at the political party level and endorsement by a supermajority of its legislators.

The TMC's situation follows a significant defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections. The rebellion within the parliamentary group has seen prominent figures like Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandopadhyay, and Shatabdi Ray emerge as leading voices. The group, which includes actors, a former cricketer, and a former football captain, presented their letters of consent to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, with one MP submitting her consent from Malaysia.

The crux of the matter lies in a legal question that the Supreme Court has yet to definitively answer: can a group of legislators unilaterally declare a merger, or does the political party itself need to sanction such a move? The outcome will hinge on this legal interpretation rather than purely political calculations.

DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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