oppn parties Rajasthan: Immoral Defections Once Again

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court dismisses industry bodies' plea to stop the SBI from disclosing the numbers of the electoral bonds
  • NDA finalizes seat sharing in Bihar - BJP 17, JD(U) 16 aqnd LJP 5
  • Election Commission removes Home secretaries of Gujarat, UP, Bihar, HP, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand and the DGP of Bengal
  • Telangana governor Tamilsai Soundararajan resigned from his post and is likely to contest for the BJP from Chennai
  • ED claims K Kavitha of the BRS paid Kejriwal and Sisodia Rs 100cr in the alleged liquor scam in Delhi. AAP says this is a ploy to malign their names
  • Supreme Court tells SBI not to be selective and disclose full details of electoral bonds
  • With the US Department of Justice rpobing bribery charges against Adani group companies, Adani group shares and bonds are under pressure
  • Narayan Murthy gifts Infosys shares worth Rs 240cr to his 4-month-old grandson
  • Tata Sons to sell Rs 9362cr worth shares of TCS to pare debt
  • Stocks were positive on Monday - Sesex climbed 104 points to 72748 and Nifty 32 points to 22055
  • IOA dissolves the ad-hoc panel and gives full control of WFI to elected panel headed by Brij Bhushan aide Sanjay Singh
  • Controversy erupts after BJP leader Tathagata Roy prescribes the cicumcision test for those seeking citizenship under CAA. TMC calls it a 'vulgar jibe'
  • Rahul Gandhi concludes his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai, holds a mega rally at Shivaji Park and says the BJP does not have the courage to change the Constitution despite making a lot of noise in that regard
  • ED issues two fresh summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the liqour excise case just a day after he got bail in the earlier cases of ignoring the summons
  • A 14-year-old girl killed herself after she was strip-searched at school in Bagalkot in Karnataka
Election Commission orders removal of home secretaries of 6 states and the DGP of Bengal
oppn parties
Rajasthan: Immoral Defections Once Again

By Linus Garg

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The Congress has gained an absolute majority in the Rajasthan assembly after all 6 MLAs belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) switched sides and joined the party today. With this, the Congress now has 106 members in the 200-member house. The BSP was till now supporting the Congress government from outside.

While this has come as a huge boost for the Ashok Gehlot government, it is a huge setback for Mayawati. The BSP supremo has been trying to stamp her party's footprint in several states (like Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, MP, Maharashtra and Karnataka). She has been successful in her endeavours as her party has been winning some seats in these states. The six seats it got in Rajasthan this time was a huge success. But with these defections, all the good work has been negated.

It is becoming a recurring feature of politics in India that MPs and MLAs from smaller parties who get only a few seats in the legislature are lured by the bigger parties (both the Congress and the BJP are equally guilty in this respect). It is obvious that even if outright payment is not done, other forms of inducements, like ministerial berths or chairmanship in state corporations or panel (which are sometimes at par with being a minister), are offered to lure these legislators.

While this practice is obnoxious when it comes to dislodging a government or forming one, it is no less objectionable when no such thing is involved. Luring legislators with inducements defeats the very purpose of the anti-defection law. If all legislators of a small party are lured to prevent disqualification under the law, it is still immoral if not illegal.

Both the Congress and the BJP must take the lead in this respect to uphold moral principles and should not look at short term benefits.