The Big Picture - Anti-Defection Law & Karnataka Political Crisis

Political defections aren’t anything new and not something that the BJP alone should be held accountable for in the two southern states Goa and Karnataka, as well as in the Rajya Sabha where four out of six TDP members resigned and joined the Treasury Benches. Crossing the aisle has been part of India’s democratic process ever since the first elections in 1952. On more than one occasion, the Congress has used the lure of power or cash or both to get the requisite support to govern, a memorable instance being from 1984 when the then Andhra Chief Minister and TDP founder NT Rama Rao (NTR) was displaced by N Bhaskara Rao. That NTR was in the US undergoing heart surgery made the occasion all the more poignant. The events in Karnataka are not new. The usual method of opposition parties has been to lure away ruling party/coalition legislators. This floor-crossing in states reached epic proportion in the 1960s and 1970s. MLAs in some states changed their political allegiances multiple times during the day. Parliament amended the Constitution in 1985 in an attempt to stop this menace, and brought in the anti-defection law. On this edition of ‘The Big Picture’ we analyse the political crisis in Karnataka and the anti-defection law.

Guests:
B. K. Chaturvedi, Former Cabinet Secretary
Satya Prakash, Legal Editor, The Tribune
J. Sai Deepak, Advocate, Supreme Court

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira