defection Archives

The recent defection of eight of the Congress party's eleven MLAs in Goa to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a serious blow to the party's chances of retaining power in the state. In the most recent state assembly, there were members of the Congress party who defected from Goa. Even more stunning is the fact that the Congress MLAs who defected had previously taken an oath on the Constitution, stating that they would not desert the party if they were successful in the assembly elections held earlier this year. At the point of fact, they had vowed the very same thing in each of their various places of worship. As a consequence of this, the traitors have a legitimate argument that they were motivated by the desire to obtain riches and prestige. We have no choice but to hold out...

ArticleBJPIndiaInternationalLatest NewsNewsPoliticsTrending

Indian Politics of Defection: An Uninteresting Variant Of Dissidence

Sayani ChakrabortyAugust 2, 20220

Defections from various political parties and the resulting deviation from norms such as "loyalty is not sellable," "pluralism is to be considered worthy of respect," and "politics that endorses improvement in the spheres of non-coercion or increasing but reasonable degrees of freedom" have recently led to the melancholy expression, "we were wrong in supporting, promoting, and protecting these defectors." Congress MPs in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Karnataka as well as the Shiv Sena in Goa and, more lately, Maharashtra are heard using these kinds of rhetoric. Is the act of defection becoming the new standard for doing politics in India? This raises the most basic problems. What is the reason for the violations of the above-mentioned norms? And who is responsible for this? The act of def...