After AAP Rajya Sabha MPRaghav Chadhaand six others announced their resignation from the party and claimed a merger with the BJP, questions have emerged over whether the anti-defection law will apply to them. The development has drawn comparisons with earlier political crises in Maharashtra, where leaders likeAjit Pawarand Eknath Shinde avoided disqualification under similar constitutional provisions. However, the law hinges not merely on numbers, but on whether the original party itself formally merges.
According to PDT Achary, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, despite Chadha claiming to have more than two-thirds of AAP’s 10 Rajya Sabha members signing a letter of merger with the BJP, the anti-defection law can still be applied to them.
“The original party (in this case, AAP) has to merge with the BJP for members to escape the anti-defection law," Achary said.
He explained that if the AAP, under Arvind Kejriwal, decides to merge with the BJP, the MPs, including Chadha and others, can be “saved" from disqualification. “The original party has to merge," he stressed.
Under the Tenth Schedule, a group supported by at least two-thirds of a party’s legislators is protected from disqualification, as long as it is recognised as representing the party. The anti-defection law did not apply to Ajit Pawar or Eknath Shinde because both secured the backing of more than two-thirds of their party legislators. This allowed them to argue that they represented the “real" party rather than defectors, a position that was accepted by the Speaker.
Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule sets out the conditions under which legislators can avoid disqualification. It makes clear that protection applies only in the case of a formal merger, where the original political party joins another party, and at least two-thirds of its legislators support the move. In the case of the Shiv Sena, this threshold translates to 37 MLAs.
Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that the faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar constituted the legitimate Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He observed that the anti-defection provisions cannot be used to suppress internal dissent within a party.
While dismissing disqualification petitions filed by rival factions led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar, Narwekar noted that Ajit Pawar’s group had an “overwhelming legislative majority," with 41 of the party’s 53 MLAs backing the move to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government in July 2023.
Raghav's Chadha's move has triggered a fresh political confrontation between him and AAP, with more developments expected in the coming days.
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