Context: The political crises in Manipur and Rajasthan has once again highlights the loopholes in Antidefection law
Background

• In Manipur assembly,contrary to their party’s stand six Congress MLAs defied their party’s whip by absenting themselves from the confidence vote which led to the government surviving the confidence motion.
• In Rajasthan, Governor’s disagreement with the Rajasthan cabinet’s decision to summon the state assembly has been violated previous Supreme Court decisions.
• By passing Anti-defection law: The main purpose of the law is to deter MLAs from defecting from their political parties. An MLA who has been declared a defector cannot become a minister in a government for six months. Yet, by winning a by-election to the assembly he can become a minister.

Issues in Anti defection law

• The law doesn’t bar the defector from reelection to the assembly or the legislature.
• It only punishes MLAs for switching parties but it doesn’t restrict Political parties that is often accused of alluring MLAs of rival parties to switch loyalties.

Unaccountability of Political parties

• The limits on electoral spending is only applicable to candidates and not to political parties as they are allowed to spend unlimited amount on behalf of their candidates.
• Similarly, with respect to criminalisation in politics there is no bar on political parties to restrict individuals who face criminal charges although there is a bar on elected Individuals convicted with a prison term of over two years cannot contest elections.

Suggestions

• Just as how penalising both the bribe giver and bribe taker is supposed to clamp down on corruption similarly, penalising both elected individuals as well as political parties will be an effective solution.
• However political parties have made deliberate attempts to flout laws that attempts to hold them accountable. Even the courts had limited success in this regard.
• Thereupon, as per the expert committee’s suggestion, a lasting solution to the problem can only come from the adherence by political parties to a code of conduct or set ofconventions that takes into account the fundamental priorities that govern the functioning of democratic institutions.

Road Ahead

• Political parties should refrain themselves from misusing the anti-defection law to fix their internal problems. Also, the menace of defection can be stopped only by enforcing accountability on both the individual MLA’s as well as the political party.