Why Congress MP Manish Tewari wants Parliament to debate the Anti-Defection law
While the Opposition has largely focused on student protests and other contentious issues during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, senior Congress leader and Chandigarh
While the Opposition has largely focused on student protests and other contentious issues during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, senior Congress leader and Chandigarh Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari has been relentlessly pressing for a discussion on one issue — the Anti-Defection law. According to official Lok Sabha records, Tewari has submitted 14 adjournment notices so far during the ongoing session. Thirteen of them sought a comprehensive discussion on reforms to the Anti-Defection law. The only exception came on July 28, when he moved an adjournment notice seeking a discussion on the use of pellet guns against unarmed protesters. Read Full Story An adjournment notice enables a Member of Parliament to seek suspension of the House's scheduled business to discuss a matter of urgent public importance, subject to the Speaker's approval.
Speaking to India Today Digital, Tewari said comprehensive reform of the Anti-Defection law was essential as it lay at the heart of many of the problems confronting India's parliamentary democracy. Calling defections "a betrayal of the people's trust," Tewari said legislators are elected on the mandate of one political party but later switch allegiance, undermining the electoral verdict. "It's a betrayal of the people's trust. Legislators win elections on the ticket of one political party and later join another. Today's Parliament is fundamentally at variance with the mandate of the 2024 general election. The current polity and Parliament are increasingly being governed by the whims of those in power," Tewari told India Today Digital. Asked why he continued to pursue the issue while the Opposition was simultaneously targeting the government over the recent Gen Z protests, the former Union minister said every MP has the right to raise issues they consider important through adjournment notices.
He said repeatedly moving notices on the Anti-Defection law was a conscious attempt to draw the attention of the Speaker and the public to what he described as a growing menace requiring urgent parliamentary debate. While Tewari has remained firm on his demand for a discussion on the Anti-Defection law, both Leaders of the Opposition — Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha — have been leading the Opposition's attack on the NDA government over student issues and the alleged police excesses against protesting students on July 20. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the Opposition had been demanding for the past 15 days that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement in Parliament on the alleged police excesses against students, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to the affected students.
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