Defection, Corruption & Election – the trilemma before voters

Forget the politicians. As a class, they seem to have developed thick skins, irrespective of the parties they belong to or defect to.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the National Congress Party (NCP) of Rs 70,000-crore scandal related to irrigation, cooperative bank frauds and so on. If the NCP has a guarantee of corruption, my guarantee is to bring them to book. “My guarantee is to take action and make them answerable,” he roared, thumping his chest in Bhopal on June 27.

Come July 2, NCP leader Ajit Pawar ditched his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) alliance as the second deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. After that there was no more talk of corruption in the NCP, at least by anyone from the BJP.

Devendra Fadnavis, the other Deputy CM is on record having declared that Ajit Pawar would be in jail due to the charges of corruption against the then NCP leader. He even repeated the famous Dharmendra dialogue from Sholay to ridicule the NCP leader by saying: “Ajit Pawar would Chakkipeesing, peesing and peesing” (meaning he would be on a grinder in the jail).

On another occasion, Fadnavis and an absolute “No, No, No” to a question of a possibility of BJP tying up with the NCP in Maharashtra. Yet, before the echo of these utterances could vanish in the air, Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra Cabinet along with eight MLAs including Chagan Bhujbal.

A year ago, the BJP managed to break the Shiv Sena by hijacking Eknath Shinde and his 40 men. The BJP leadership which has been gunning to finish the Shiv Sena even since Uddhav Thackeray broke the saffron alliance has also made Shinde the CM. After that there has been no talk of corruption or ED action against those who joined Shinde’s 10-day entourage to BJP via Surat-Guwahati-Goa in June 2022.

Even many of those NCP leaders who joined the BJP government, had cases pending against them. The switch over to the power has put some leaders such as Bhujbal in a piquant situation as he had filed a petition in Bombay High Court demanding action against the Shinde government for not spending development funds.

Now this will be forgotten with the BJP washing machine in action. The tainted leaders till the other day are now honourable leaders of the BJP camp.

It is in this context that the last week’s blasting of the BRS government by the Prime Minister has to be considered. Modi termed the KCR led government as the most corrupt. There is no scheme that is free of corruption charges, he said.

Modi has come to power riding the wave of corruption charges against the UPA government in 2014 and uses the same strategy even nine years later. For a man who swears by Na Kavoonga, Na Khanedoonga principle, it is difficult to believe that he is tolerating the so-called complete corruption by the BRS government. These are made by none other than the Prime Minister himself. He also indirectly referred to a “collaboration in corruption” between the BRS and AAP.

One natural question that arises is as to why doesn’t the Centre appoint a judicial commission or order a series of cases against KCR and his government? Or just dismiss the government if it is so tainted with corruption? Or is it meant to be a warning to BRS leaders to start planning a Maharashtra-type coup or face probes and jail terms?

Sharad Pawar and KTR have already dared the Prime Minister to launch probes against their respective leaders.

One could have dismissed such charges had they been made by a BJP spokesperson on a TV channel debate or its social media managers. But with none else than a responsible man such as the Prime Minister himself launching the ‘public chargesheet’, guess one tends to take it as another ‘jumla’ (that Amit Shah refers to the Modi’s electoral promise of sending Rs 15 lakhs to every Indian’s bank account once he gets repatriated the black money hidden in the Swiss banks). Or will the Shinde-Fadnavis government continue with the charges against Ajit Pawar & Co and ensure chakkipeesing? What about the charges against some of Shinde’s own men from the Shiv Sena who had all the taints hidden if not washed away?

These kinds of engineered defections raise questions about the sanctity of the anti-defection law. Those who switch sides tend to escape any legal action by managing to cross the Lakshman Rekha - two-third of the strength of the party that they ditch for power. Come to think of it, the defections by and large have been either for power or a favour. But to make them appear like ‘public interest moves’, the defectors often say that they switch parties and join the government to serve the people better.

Does the governance change with the change in the governments that the people elect? It is for the voters to decide. But is he left any choice as the leaders they elect keep changing sides back and forth? What are options for him other than waiting for the next election time? Even then the chances of the turncoats losing the re-election are slim because of two factors: either the voter apathy or the “strength” of the so-called leader.

Is that democracy? Since it is not, can we think of making some strict rules in the larger interest of democracy? One idea that comes to my mind is to make it compulsory for the elected representative to stick with his political party for the entire five-year term. He should be made to sign a bond of not changing parties on getting elected. He should not be eligible to fight the following two elections if he happens to switch sides.

One knee-jerk reaction to this suggestion could be as to how can anyone make anything compulsory in a democracy. But isn’t betrayal a serious issue? In corporate setups, those who betray lose their jobs. It is a similar situation when you betray the people’s faith. You have to lose your job. And I suggest a stricter punishment such as barring from re-election for ten years since this electoral betrayal impacts a larger section than a company – the society as such. Same rule must be applicable to Independent candidates as well. They should be forced to remain Independent and not join any party during their term. Often, Independents are the candidates who are denied official party tickets and get elected with the support of rival groups.

Electoral reforms have been under discussion for long in a limited circle. It is time that we discuss it in much larger circles, far and wide and in every state, district, taluka and Panchayat – Yes, Parliament to Panchayat.

We have been discussing ways of making the government officials accountable for good governance. It’s time that we make our elected representatives too accountable for what they get elected – to give us good governance for which they don’t have to be in the government. An elected representative has enough powers and funds at his disposal to serve his people. To borrow Barack Obama’s election slogan, Yes, he can do it - without craving for power. Let’s debate.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)