Former law min blames Speakers for state crises
NEW DELHI: Amid a controversy over the role of Governors in the imposition of President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, former law minister HR Bhardwaj defended the Raj Bhawan, blaming Speakers for political stalemates in states.
“In most cases, Speakers are not acting in an impartial manner. This is leading to litigation under anti-defection law, complicating the political scene in the states,” Bhardwaj, a former Governor of Karnataka and Kerala, told HT.
“If the Speaker acts like an impartial person, there would be no problem. But if he does not follow his dharma, there would be breakdown of constitutional machinery,” he said. Asked if Governors were being used to destabilise state government of opposition parties, he said, “What can a Governor do? If he has come to know that the state government has lost majority, he is bound to ask the chief minister to seek a trust vote. He can’t allow a minority government to continue.”
“The problem begins when the Governor requests Speaker to convene the House for a floor test. Instead of simply conducting it, the Speaker disqualifies rebel MLAs of the ruling party. Then the disqualified MLAs go to courts against the Speaker’s decision, further complicating the matter,” Bhardwaj said.
Giving Arunachal’s example, Bhardwaj said, “What can the Governor do if the Speaker locks the House? The proceedings were conducted outside the House. This can’t be allowed. Even in Uttarakhand, the problem started with the Speaker’s decision not to go for division of votes on the appropriation bill.”
Asked if the anti-defection law has failed to achieve its purpose, Bhardwaj said, “The Rajiv Gandhi government had more than 400 MPs in the Lok Sabha in 1984. Even Pandit Nehru did not have this kind of majority. He wanted to stop his own MPs from defecting. This is how the Tenth Schedule (that contains the anti-defection law) was added to the Constitution in 1985. The intention was good. But after more than 30 years, it is clear that it has failed to check defections.”