Hyderabad: BRS senior leader and ex-MP B Vinod Kumar said the 10th schedule of the Constitution should be amended immediately fixing a statutory limit to decide the disqualification petitions within three months. He said if the decisions on defection continue to remain pending for years, the very purpose of the anti-defection law would be undermined.
In the case concerning Manipur, the Supreme Court observed that, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, three months would ordinarily be a reasonable period for deciding disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule, the ex-MP said. *According to ADR, among the 111 elected representatives who switched parties including 29 BJP , NPF 32, NCPI 20 and others. The highest number among the 111 elected representatives who switched parties moved into the BJP and its allied parties — NPF, NCP, Shiv Sena, NPP and PPA. “Everyone knows that 9 elected BRS MLAs joined the Congress in Telangana.
An effective mechanism should be established so that the law does not become ineffective if a decision is not taken within the prescribed time. The 10th Schedule should be strengthened so that elected representatives cannot undermine the mandate of the people by switching parties after elections,” the ex-MP said. They won the elections with the votes of the people as BRS candidates and subsequently joined the Congress, thereby attempting to alter the mandate given by the people.
“The BJP leaders N Ramchander Rao and Bandi Sanjay should first go through the political history of the country and review their own party record on defection before criticising the BRS on on the defection,’ he said. If BJP leaders are genuinely serious about ending defections, instead of making allegations against BRS, the BJP-led Central Government should introduce a bill to amend the Tenth Schedule in the upcoming winter session of parliament, he said. “There should be no scope for keeping disqualification petitions pending indefinitely. These figures clearly highlight the scale of the politics of defections involving the BJP and its political allies. Yet, BJP leaders lecturing BRS on defections without looking at their own record is nothing short of ironic. From the political defections that took place in undivided AP during the tenure of the late Y.S.
Rajasekhara Reddy as CM to the defections taking place today under the Revanth Reddy government in Telangana, the people are watching the history and conduct of the Congress.