You need over 360 votes for that. So if the BJP can manage a 1984 Rajiv Gandhi-like win, they can probably do something, like Rajiv Gandhi did with the anti-defection Act.
I do hope the NDA doesn't get that "stable". I am hoping and expecting around 320 for NDA and around 200 for the BJP which should keep them in power for at least for two years.
Indira Gandhi tried to murder democracy with the declaration of emergency, but since the attack was obvious the people stood up and defeated the attempt. Rajiv, on the other hand, back-stabbed democracy with the anti-defection act, and most people still think it was a good thing.
What the anti defection act did was tie down elected representatives to party power structures with absolutely no democratic tendencies. In my opinion, the anti defection act is one of the reasons for the proliferation of political parties. Each and every small leader need not start their own party when they are free to express their views and vote their conscience while remaining within a larger party.
The reason most people like the anti defection act is because they think it restored political stability from the aya ram gaya ram era. Recent history shows, however, that it was not a lasting solution. A proper solution to this problem, in my opinion, is to separate the legislative and executive branches further. Right now we have a sort of incestuous relationship where the executive rules at the pleasure of the legislature, but many of the legislature's power have been usurped by the executive, by virtue of the fact that both are headed by the same people.
In other words, I am suggesting a separately elected executive. You can call that a presidential system if you want.
The law commission's recommendation to bar independent candidates from contesting elections to the state and central legislatures is yet another misguided attempt to stabilize the political scene, at the expense of the soul of democracy. |
