July 17, 2026

And Now, It Is The Turn Of The Candidates

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-04-09 14:41:01

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

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The politics of defection - or that of Aaya Rams and Gaya Rams - touched a new low in India today when the All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF), the Assamese political party led by millionaire perfume king Badruddin Ajmal, flew 22 of the party's candidates in the recently concluded assembly elections in the state to Jaipur and sequestered them in the Fairmont resort, made famous when Congress MLAs were similarly sequestered there during an internal tiff in the party last year.

Initially, defectors were used to break governments. Then they started to trade for government formation. Now, just the fear of poaching even before they are elected is enough to hold them captive. One is sure this is not something Ajmal has thought on his own. This is a move by the Congress (a Rajasthan Congress leader even admitted that the party would look after the guests) to prevent poaching by the BJP in the event the party falls short of majority as it has an alliance with the AIDUF and other parties in Assam.

But this is the first time when candidates have been so sequestered. Till now those who won and became MLAs were isolated. It is just a sign of the times. This is likely to start a trend and whenever elections will become too close to call parties will increasingly isolate their candidates. But does not all this drama beg a pertinent question - how can parties expect the people to trust candidates whom even they do not?

There are serious flaws in the anti-defection law. They need to be addressed to put a stop to such machinations. More electoral reforms, to do away with or at least minimize money and muscle power in politics are needed. Despite reforms, crorepatis and candidates with pending criminal cases top the list of those who stand for election and represent the people. If this continues, aaya rams and gaya rams will continue to laugh their way to the bank and break the trust of the common man.