A recent political development in India has cast a spotlight on a legislative proposal by Raghav Chadha, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament who recently switched allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chadha's 2022 Private Member's Bill aimed to significantly strengthen anti-defection laws, making it harder for lawmakers to switch parties.
What Chadha Proposed in His Bill
Introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2022, just three months after he joined the House, Chadha's Constitution (Amendment) Bill sought to reform the existing anti-defection framework. Key proposals included:
- Increased Threshold for Splits/Mergers: The bill proposed raising the requirement for a legitimate legislative party split or merger from the current two-thirds to three-fourths of the members. This would make it considerably more challenging for groups of lawmakers to break away without facing disqualification.
- Ban on Re-contesting Elections: It also stipulated that MPs or MLAs who changed parties after winning elections would be barred from contesting any polls for a period of six years.
Rationale Behind the Proposed Changes
Chadha argued that the existing anti-defection law was failing to curb what he termed "nefarious floor crossing by legislators in total disregard of the democratic wishes of the electorate." He emphasized that while the Tenth Schedule rules were intended to prevent "horse-trading" among legislators, the issue remained "notoriously prevalent."
His bill aimed to "strengthen our democracy and help our public representatives in becoming informed lawmakers rather than political party workers." He further criticized the "rampant misuse of Tenth Schedule" as a "blot on our democracy."
Addressing "Resort Politics"
The bill also sought to counter "Resort Politics"—a term used for lawmakers being sequestered to prevent them from changing their vote or party. It proposed that any lawmaker withdrawing support from a government would be required to appear before the Chair within seven days or risk disqualification.
The Irony: Chadha's Defection and His Own Bill
The relevance of Chadha's pending bill became starkly apparent last week when he, along with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, defected to the BJP. These seven defectors constitute 7 out of AAP's 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, which meets the current two-thirds threshold required for a recognized split under the Tenth Schedule.
However, had Chadha's own proposed bill become law, the stricter three-fourths threshold would have required eight MPs to defect without disqualification, meaning he would have fallen short by one MP. The bill, a Private Member's Bill, never became law and remains pending in Parliament.