1Zakir Husain Delhi College (E), University of Delhi, India
*Email id: jaikishanprasher@gmail.com
The central dimension of democracy being narrated in the idea of government of the people, postulates that common people will elect their representatives to participate in governance on their behalf. However, these representatives, the politicians, out of common people have become very uncommon and an epithet of despise crime. Politics, a selfless service has been barefacedly reduced to a lugubrious and dirty profession. Our society has construed politics as a despicable profession and therefore is viewed scornfully, which if not a fallacious perception, is definitely a dangerous one. Politics has the potential to be a sanctified way to bring about positive changes in the society and in systems of governance. Regrettably political leaders, the practitioners of this critical profession, the political leaders who have dilapidated the status of politics by multiple unethical and unwarranted practices; thereby demeaning the democratic political framework. There are deep malaises in Indian democracy but switching of the fealty by the megalomaniac, the elected representative has done a great disservice to the will of the electorates by invoking dubious and immoral means to pulverise the great institution of democracy. Consequently, a legislative framework in the form of anti-defection was put in place to temperate the politics of changing loyalties. This essay attempts to analyse the shortcomings and manipulation of the anti-defection law and inherent cynicism in the society about political practices. This essay will also outline the structural imperatives in terms of institutional framework and critical masses’ awareness for effective implementation of this law in particular and public policy in general. Finally, possibly suggest conducive headways to strengthen the proviso of this law.
Countries that can establish ‘good government’ will stand a fair chance of providing their citizens with a decent standard of living
- John Micklethwait & Adrian Wooldridge.
Anti-defection, Democracy, Structural imperatives
