The Constitutional Crisis in Maharashtra (July 2022)

The political crisis which occurred in Maharashtra in July 2022 is known having been linked to 10th Schedule of the Constitution. We now await the next hearing of the supreme Court of India, which is scheduled to be held on 8th August 2022. It will become clear on that day whether a Constitutional Bench will be needed/appointed for this case or not.

The anti-defection law is already under criticism due to the provision of the Party Whip. It nullifies the freedom of the elected public representatives and makes them somewhat like the slaves to the party. The purpose of the law was ok to some limited extent only. But the recent happenings in Maharashtra has become a special case, as a group of some MLAs and MPs claim that they have just formed a separate group; but not left the party as such.

My Observations --

It is claimed that there is no provision in the law which allows forming a separate group within a party and that the outgoing MLAs or MPs have to merge into a separate party anyhow. But the other side is that, forming a separate group within a legislature party is explicitly not prohibited in the law. That is also a fact. Strictly speaking, this is a shortcoming in the law and an example of the short-sightedness of the then law makers too.

The other point is of the contrast between the political party which faces the election and the legislature party which needs to be formed in the legislature, by the elected representatives. As per the provisions, it is the leader of the legislature party who is considered for forming the Council of Ministers. There are no provisions which call for seeking an explicit, either oral or written, directive by the leader of the political party outside the legislature. In Maharashtra, the leader himself was challenged by more than 2/3rd majority MLAs. On this count, the faction with 2/3rd majority in the legislature party gains the weight in this conflict. So, as far as the business of the legislature is concerned, the opinion of the majority in a legislature party should remain valid and prevail. As far as the affairs of a party outside the legislature are concerned, the decisions of the leader outside the legislature may prevail.

When it comes to the political party outside the legislature, the majority vote in the party's internal resolution will clarify as who the leader will be, out of the two contestants from two factions.

So under given circumstances, the following could be the outcome from the litigation.

  • All MLAs and MPs will be allowed to continue as per their choice of the faction to stay with.
  • None will be disqualified.
  • There could be two separate whips of the two factions, independent of each other.
  • With that, the party symbol may not have much significance, at least for the remaining period of the term.
  • The ownership of the party symbol in future will be decided upon by the Election Commission of India, after verifying the supporter strength for each faction, by way of voting by all members of the party. It seems, it will be more like an internal contest for the leadership of the party. 
  • If it does not happen in that way, the ECI may finally freeze the current symbol. The name Shiv Sena may be shared by both factions like the name Congress is shared by many factions.


Let us wait to see the actual verdict of the SCI.


Beyond that --  

Whatever may be the verdict of the Supreme Court of India, the points for further debate are as follows.

Why do we need the political parties, in the first place ? According to the famous quote, the democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people. The democracy is surely not a government of the parties, by the parties, for the parties.

In the concept of 'Redevelopment of Our Democracy' as suggested by me, such type of conflicts get no ground because there is no scope for the parties.

We need to seriously re-consider our legislative process also. Please read about it in a separate blog-page.

(Date - 2022.08.05.)

 

The 1st Extension :--

If the political party which has faced the election or its leader is to be given more importance, there appears another point of argument regarding the change in the stance before and after election. The 1st party under consideration (i.e. its leader) faced the election by declaring its alliance with another particular (2nd) party and after declaration of the results of the election, changed its stance, broke the alliance with the 2nd party and formed a new alliance with the 3rd and the 4th party. The voters had cast their votes to the 1st party on the basis of its alliance with the 2nd party. So due to the change of stance of the leader of the 1st party, the voters got fooled and cheated. Is it wrong to say so ? This question needs to be asked in the court and got it answered. The said type of change of stance by the leaders must be punished on account of the cheating the voters.


Now there is another interesting point. It is learnt that the new faction has started to set up its own branch offices, and perhaps a new HQ (Bhavan) also, separate from those of the original party. What does it indicate ? Till date, they are claiming that they have not left the party. If that is the case, why should the faction think of separate offices and HQ ? If the dispute is about the leadership of the original party and its election symbol, the faction should keep insisting on its claim on all existing offices and the HQ also of the original party. For the time being, they may go ahead with a temporary office somewhere, till the court issues its verdict. But their steps to set up a new HQ (Bhavan) seem like an indication for leaving the original party. Let us wait and see what happens in the court. 

(Date - 2022.08.14.)

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Last updated on 2022.08.14. (First uploaded here on 2022.08.05.)

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