oppn parties As Long As Defectors Are Rewarded, Elected Governments Will Be Toppled

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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As Long As Defectors Are Rewarded, Elected Governments Will Be Toppled

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-07-13 20:12:19

About the Author

Sunil Garodia 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

Even as Rajasthan is witnessing political drama, elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh defectors are being rewarded big time. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has finally allotted the portfolios in his cabinet and the loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Congressman whose defection to the BJP caused the fall of Kamal Nath's government in the state a few months back have been allotted 41 percent of the ministries, including some key ones.

The biggest reward has been to Narottam Mishra, a Scindia loyalist, as he retains the home portfolio, although he had to cede the charge of the health ministry to another Scindia loyalist Dr. Prabhuram Choudhary. Other defectors to get important portfolios were Pradyumna Singh Tomar (energy), Mahendra Singh Sisodia (panchayat and rural development) and Imarti Devi (women and child development department).

The timing of the distribution of portfolios in Madhya Pradesh will not be lost on the fence-sitters in Rajasthan. When they see their ex-party men being solidly rewarded for bringing the BJP to power (as they were also rewarded in Karnataka) they might be tempted to make up their mind to go for it in Rajasthan too. Already, 20 MLAs (a number not enough to cause the government to fall) were missing from the CLP meeting at Ashok Gehlot's house today. There might be more who might break rank now.

All the talk about clean politics has no meaning unless something is done about giving ministerial or other government posts (like chairmanship of any state corporation with perks similar to a cabinet rank minister) to recent defectors. A cooling-off period must be inbuilt in the anti-defection law to prevent defections for gain. Anyone who defects on the basis of ideological differences must be prepared to wait for a given length of time before taking part in the government or handling other administrative posts. That is the only way to prevent the absurd spectacle of aaya rams and gaya rams toppling elected governments. 

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