AUGUST 4, 2019 • THE WEEK 47CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES
It was in 1985, during prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi’s tenure, that the Tenth Schedule of the
Constitution (anti-defection law) came into force,
acknowledging that political defections were a
threat to democracy.
This time in Karnataka, some Congress and
JD(S) leaders debated on the “Aaya Ram, gaya
Ram” syndrome of party hoppers and expressed
concern about the latest trend of parties sub-
verting even the anti-defection law to suit their
political ambitions.
Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar recalled an an-
ecdote about Acharya Kripalani taunting Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after the former’s wife,
Sucheta Kripalani, joined the Congress. “Kri-
palani remarked that he knew that Congress
[leaders] were loafers, but did not know they
were elopers. Pandit [Nehru] had countered it
by saying elopement was a matter of poten-
cy,” said Kumar. “If we do not curb defections
and inducements, we cannot hope for stable
governments in future.”
The rebels—who had approached the Su-
preme Court saying they were being forced to
vote in favour of the coalition—managed to get
an exemption from attending the house. Many
of the rebels had been holed up in a Mumbai
hotel, and even sought police protection when
Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar and three
others flew down to pacify them on July 14.
Mumbai Police detained Shivakumar, which
led him to allege that the Devendra Fadnavis
government in Maharashtra was interfering in
the affairs of the Karnataka Congress.
JD(S) leader A.H. Vishwanath, who is under
attack from his party for his “betrayal”, said,
“We are dissenters and not defectors. Legisla-
tors have the right to dissent and resign if they
do not want to be part of the coalition.”
Congress leader S.T. Somashekhar slammed
his party, saying, “No one offered us any mon-
ey. We all are well-off people. Some people are
trying to tarnish our image. The party did not
heed our grievances for the past 14 months
and has woken up only now.”WHO HAS THE PEOPLE’S MANDATE?
In May 2018, after a fractured verdict in the
assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the sin-
gle-largest party with 104 seats. The Congress,
with 80, and the JD(S), with 37, joined hands
to keep the “communal” BJP at bay. “The
arch-rivals entered a post-poll alliance only
to keep the BJP out of power,” said former BJP
law minister S. Suresh Kumar. “With their bad
governance, they lost the faith of the people.
They have lost the trust of their own MLAs,
and today, they have lost the confidence of the
house, too.”
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, how-
ever, said that no party had the people’s man-
date as it was a fractured verdict. “This is not
the first coalition in the country,” he said. “But
the BJP is resorting to wholesale horse trading,
which is undemocratic.” He added that none
of the rebels would be allowed back into the
party at any point ot time.BACK ON TOP
Yeddyurappa
celebrates
after the
Congress-JD(S)
government lost
the trust vote in
the Karnataka
assembly