Jignesh Mevani brings spotlight back on anti-defection laws

Jignesh Mevani and the Congress also avoided having the former as an associate member. Associate membership has no constitutional or legal value in the schedule. He announced he would fight the next poll on Congress ticket

Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani’s decision to support the Congress but not to join it immediately has turned the spotlight again on the Tenth Schedule defining India’s anti-defection laws.

Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani said Rahul Gandhi told him signing of the Congress’s membership form can be done later even as his friend, former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, joined the party on September 28 (Arijit Sen/HT Photo)

Congress leaders said Mevani initially planned to join the Congress but was reminded that the move risks him losing his membership of the Gujarat assembly. “It was felt that since there is more than a year left for the Gujarat assembly polls (due)...in the winter of 2022, it would not be appropriate to quit as a legislator,” said one of the leaders, who did not want to be named.

Mewani said Rahul Gandhi told him signing of the Congress’s membership form can be done later even as his friend, former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, joined the party on September 28.

In 2019, the Karnataka assembly speaker suspended an independent member for joining the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) days before the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government collapsed in the state. Five Karnataka lawmakers were earlier suspended when as they declared themselves as associate BJP members in 2010.

As per the Tenth Schedule, included in the Constitution in 1985 through the 52nd amendment: “An elected member of a House who has been elected as such otherwise than as a candidate set up by any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after such election.”

Mevani and Congress also avoided having the former as an associate member. Associate membership has no constitutional or legal value in the schedule. He announced he would fight the next poll on Congress ticket.

When the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expelled Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee in 2017, he did not immediately switch over to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) but remained an independent member for the remainder of the term. Like Mevani, Banerjee just pledged support for TMC.

On September 28, Gandhi presented Mevani a copy of the Congress’s constitution. His entry into Congress will happen only before the Gujarat polls.