Anti-Defection Law: Has it Lost Relevance amidst the Current Political Crisis?

Background

Recent political crisis in Karnataka, where some MLAs resigned to circumvent the provisions of the anti-defection law, has raised a question mark on the relevance of statue, whose main objective was to curb political defections. The strategic merger (majority of opposition party merged into the ruling party) in the state of Goa further compounded this issue.

Evolution of Anti-defection Law

Initially, Indian Constitution did not have any mention of the anti-defection law, but the rise of political defection post 1967 elections highlighted the issue and led to the formation of Y.B. Chavan committee, to study the problems of ....