New Delhi: Days after the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh collapsed due to the mass resignation by 22 Congress MLAs and Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as the BJP chief minister, former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said ‘virus’ has inflicted the political system, as India went into lockdown.
Earlier too, Sibal had launched his debate in the Rajya Sabhaon delhi riots calling it a “communal virus attack”. Speaking to IANS he said that “10th schedule is not able to protect defection as the BJP has taken other route by way of resignation”.
He said “no dissident in any party will resign unless there is a benefit clause attached to it,even the floor test has become a “farce” as we are witnessing constitutional anarchy”, said Sibal.
“The tenth schedule was to protect ‘Aya Ram and Gaya Ram politic’. It prevents members of Parliament and assemblies from cross voting and defying the whip or resign. It invites disqualification of a member who voluntarily gives up membership of the political party to which he or she belongs or votes against the whip issued by the party in the course of proceedings in Parliament or the legislature.Sibal said
In the 10 schedule when two third of the MLAs merge along with the floor leader then it’s allowed otherwise it invites defection laws and subsequently disqualification. But this is difficult to implement in large assemblies. In small states like Goa, it has happened.
Kapil Sibal alleged that BJP is engineering defection by resignation where MLAs are lured and kept in captivity and moved in chartered flights operating even from high security zones.
In case of Madhya Pradesh MLAs, the quitting lot was lodged in Bengaluru and no congress leaders were allowed to meet them.
The party leader alleged that in Karnataka the coalition government was destabilised by the resignation method and the beneficiary was the BJP.
He cited Uttrakhand, where the government was dislodged by this method and MLAs were whisked away to Delhi but timely intervention but the High Court saved the government.
