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.“There should be no scope for keeping disqualification petitions pending indefinitely. 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.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.Stating the latest report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on September 24 has once again brought the seriousness of the politics of defections before the country. ADR revealed that 111 elected representatives who won elections between 2022 and 2026 switched political parties. They include 26 Lok Sabha MPs, 7 Rajya Sabha MPs and 78 MLAs.*According to ADR, among the 111 elected representatives who switched parties including 29 BJP, NPF 32, NCPI 20 and others. These figures clearly highlight the scale of the politics of defections involving the BJP and its political allies. 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. Yet, BJP leaders lecturing BRS on defections without looking at their own record is nothing short of ironic.“Everyone knows that 9 elected BRS MLAs joined the Congress in Telangana. 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.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.“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.Vinod recalled that in its 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto, the Congress party explicitly promised to amend the Tenth Schedule and make defection — leaving the original party on whose ticket an MLA or MP was elected — an automatic disqualification from membership of the assembly or parliament.Ends/
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