Anti-defection laws that curtailed ‘aya ram, gaya ram’ incidents

New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) Party-hopping in the political arena is a phenomenon witnessed since long where various reasons make political leaders exit one organisation for another, yet most today will fail to match the frequency of transit by two names from Haryana who were said to have influenced the coinage of “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram”.

It was the late 1960s, much before the anti-defection laws came into being, when some legislators from the state, such as Hira Nand Arya and Gaya Lal, executed their political somersaults.

The phrase — meaning “he comes, he goes” — entered India’s political lexicon in 1967, reflecting the rampant culture of defection that destabilised Haryana’s politics.

The story begins with Gaya Lal, an MLA from Hodal, who switched allegiance from Congress to the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD), to return within nine hours, and defect again soon after. His rapid shifts became symbolic of the opportunistic party-hopping that plagued the State Legislature.

In this story of defections, MLA Hira Nand Arya defected five times, two others four times, three thrice, and 34, at least once.

The incident finds mention in “Land of the Gods: The Story of Haryana” by Arjun Singh Kadian, as well as “The Power of the Ballot: Travail and Triumph in the Elections” by Anil Maheshwari and Vipul Maheshwari, among other books.

It was Haryana’s first Assembly elections in February 1967, where the Congress secured a majority under Chief Minister Bhagwat Dayal Sharma.

However, factional rivalries soon erupted.

Rao Birender Singh, a powerful leader from the Ahirwal belt, was said to be the contender that Indira Gandhi was keen on. He became the Assembly Speaker and, allegedly with Devi Lal’s support, orchestrated defections that toppled Sharma’s government.

By March 1967, Rao Birender Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister under the SVD banner. It is said that the phrase origin lies with Rao Birender Singh presenting Gaya Lal before the press, declaring “Gaya Lal is Aaya Ram now”.

It was much later that Lok Sabha agreed to the setting up of a committee under then Home Minister Y.B. Chavan to look into the issue of defections.

According to the committee, defection was the voluntary giving up of allegiance towards a political party on whose symbol the legislator was elected, except when it was done at the direction of the party.

It was the 52nd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1985, moved by the then Rajiv Gandhi government, that introduced the Anti-Defection Law through the Tenth Schedule to prevent political defections and ensure stability in governance.

It ensured that legislators could be disqualified if they defected from their party after being elected, aiming to prevent the kind of rapid party-switching seen in Haryana.

The law applied to both Parliament and state Assemblies, where an MP or MLA would lose a seat if they voluntarily gave up party membership or disobeyed the party whip in crucial votes.

However, a merger clause allowed at least two-thirds of a party’s legislators to defect together.

The Speaker or Chairman of the House was empowered to decide on disqualification petitions.

In 2003, a Constitution Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government to address some of the issues in the law.

The 91st Amendment Act, 2003, limited the size of the Council of Ministers and strengthened the Anti-Defection Law to ensure stable and accountable governance in India.

The law reduced the frequency of “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” style defections, but critics argue it also curtailed Legislative independence, forcing MPs and MLAs to toe the party line.

Recent cases in states like Maharashtra and West Bengal show that the anti-defection law remains central to political battles and related switches.

–IANS

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