Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu recommended amendments to the anti-defection law to plug its loopholes and ensure that cases under the law are adjudicated within a specific time frame.
Delivering an address at the Press Club of Bengaluru, he said that the defects in the law “allows wholesale defection but not retail defection... Time has to come to amend the law.” Even though chairmen and speakers of various legislative bodies are empowered to decide on defection, many sit on it. There are instances when the courts pronounce judgement on defection cases after the tenure (of those who defected) is over, Naidu said.
There should be clarity in the anti-defection law, and time frames should be set to issue judgement on these cases - say three months or six months. “This is the one change I want to see,” the vice president said, noting that politicians jumping parties has become a menace recently.
The vice president said that a weakness had crept into the democratic society as several newspapers and other media organisations were owned by politicians or political parties. “Such things are weakening democracy,” he said.
On the other hand, social media - despite its benefits - is causing social tensions by promoting divisions in society, hatred and (fuelling) religious tensions.
“We have to arrive at some sort of a solution... Though we cannot have censorship, we should ensure that there is some regulation (of social media),” he said.
Naidu also urged all political parties to evolve a code of conduct and to ensure that members of the party follow it not only inside in Parliament but outside too. The parties should also ensure that promises made in the manifesto are implemented, Naidu added.
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