Raghav Chadha leads AAP MPs' exit to BJP: What Anti-Defection Law’s two-thirds rule says

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s announcement on Friday (April 20) that more than two-thirds of AAP MPs, including himself, are leaving the party and will merge with the BJP has brought the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution into focus, as it deals with the Anti-Defection Law as well as the exemptions from it.

Merger clause in focus

As per the Tenth Schedule, dealing with “provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection”, a merger is considered valid only if at least two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to it. In such a case, the concerned lawmakers will not be subjected to disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law.

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If two-thirds of elected members switch sides together, they are not disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law.

“For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, the merger of the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger,” stated the Tenth Schedule.

What Chadha said on ‘merger’

It was in reference to this exemption mentioned in the Tenth Schedule, Chadha had said that over two-thirds of AAP Rajya Sabha MPs would merge with the BJP. Chadha clarified that all legal paperwork related to the merger has been completed.

The development assumes further significance in view of the fact that the resignation of Ashok Mittal. It is worth noting that just 15 days ago, the party had replaced Chadha with Mittal as the Deputy Leader of the Rajya Sabha.

Also Read: Chadha loses and gains security while successor Mittal faces ED raids

"We have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP,” Chadha told reporters.

"There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, more than 2/3rd of them are with us in this. They have signed and this morning we submitted the signed letter and documents to the Rajya Sabha Chairman...three of them are here before you. Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal,” he added.

Precedent from Goa Assembly

The events in Goa in 2019, when legislators from the Congress and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party shifted allegiance to the BJP, had similarly brought the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution into focus.

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At the time, petitions were moved seeking the disqualification of these MLAs. However, both the Speaker of the Assembly and the Bombay High Court, Goa Bench, declined to grant relief.

These authorities held that the legislators in question constituted not less than two-thirds of their respective legislative parties, thereby attracting the protection available under the Tenth Schedule. As a result, disqualification proceedings could not be sustained.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Desh)