Diminished!

The Parliament is the place where Public policies are made which finally drives the country economically, politically & socially. This results in from the constructive & in-depth detailing of the issues discussed, right from the planning till implementation. The role of the Members of Parliament (MPs) thus become inevitably important as the aspirations of people gets reflected through them.

But over the past few decades there has been a deterioration in the quality of discussion, hence the outcomes of parliament in the  form of policies/laws/enactments. A portion of which can be credited to the Anti-defection law, among others ,which was designed to prevent the evil or mischief of political defections motivated by the lure of office, material benefits or other similar considerations.It was intended to strengthen the fabric of Indian Parliamentary Democracy by curbing  unprincipled & unethical defections, but has resulted in some negative tertiary backlashes.

The 52^nd Amendment of 1985 added a new Schedule ,Tenth Schedule, to the constitution relating to political defections. Two of the provisions of which are :

1)A legislator stands disqualified from the house if he/she voluntarily gives up the membership of the party from whose ticket it got elected to the house.

2) A legislator stand disqualified from the house if he/she abstains/votes contrary to the directions given by his/her party.

Thus, the MPs are expected to behave as per their party diktats,  even if the subject at hand needs to be treated differently & without any prejudice. Any departure might lead to their disqualification. This particular provision might discourage the sitting MPs to come up & express openly their views on the floor of the parliament in case it is inconsistent with the party line. Thus depriving the policy debate occasionally & restricting its framework & in the process affecting the overall quality . The above law fails to make any distinction between dissent & defection. It curbs the legislator’s right to dissent and freedom of conscience

It can be easily observed that party bossism precedes everything thus ruining the debate in favour of, mostly, mediocrity. In the light of the recent events it would be a welcome change if alterations in  the current  provisions are made &  freedom be given to the current legislators in voicing their opinion on whose shoulder lies the responsibility of directing the country .