Defection and Instability of Government

Context:

• The crisis of Madhya Pradesh Government in March, 2020, wherein Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 22 MLA’s gave resignation to the speaker of the assembly.
• Recently, vertical division took place in the regional parties Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra.  

About

• Relationships between representative and citizens built on trust and governed by commonly accepted ethical norms which are beneficial to both.
• However, such relationships are now being compromised because of vested interests.

Ethical issues associated with the defections of leaders – 

• Dishonouring People’s mandate: Ex. In Bihar BJP and JDU contested assembly election together, however at present JDU and RJD are ruling the state.
• Political instability: Ex. Government in Maharashtra changed thrice in last four years.
• Horse trading: Ex. Cash for votes incident, Allegation of paying bribe to get supports of Mps/MLAs.
• Reduced Options to voters: Ex. Recently, Nagaland’s assembly became without opposition as all parties started supporting the government.
• Lack of Accountability: Ex. Minor government does not take policy-based decisions and also it becomes difficult to fix accountability

Conclusion:

• The Anti-Defections rules should include provisions mandating the formation of independent committees to look into allegations of horse trading between the parties and the imposition of punitive consequences on anyone found accountable. 
• They should also be prohibited from running in elections, in order to prevent such factors from upending the nation's functioning democracy.

Examples 

• Raj Yadav, IAS: (Innovation, Leadership) - Adopted 5 Sikkim villages and transformed over 7500 lives
• Shashanka Ala, IAS: (Innovation, Leadership, Compassion) Fighting malnutrition in Mizoram
• Sandeep Nanduri, IAS (Compassion, ) Launched a cafe which is run exclusively by differently-abled persons
• Awanish Sharan, IAS: (Compassion, Innovation) Sent Bike Ambulances to Tribal Doorsteps, Reducing Medical Costs by 90 per cent
• Asheesh Singh, IAS:(Compassion, Environment Friendly): Helped cleared 13 lakh metric tons of garbage from 100 acres of land
• Jitendra Kumar Soni, IAS: (Compassion, Persuasion) Stopped 1.5 lakh kids from walking barefoot to school by providing free footwear
• Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, IAS (Compassion, Innovation ): Built 320 bridges to improve connectivity in vulnerable villages in Kashmir
• Umakant Umrao, IAS: (Leadership, Environment Friendly) Helped MP Farmers Battle Drought With Over 16,000 Ponds
• A Sridevasena, IAS: (Leadership, Dedication): Turned a high-risk dengue area into India’s cleanest district
• Vivek Bhardwaj: Put in place a transparent and non-reversible regime for coal block auctions)
• Naresh Gangwar (brought about a transformation in school education in Rajasthan) and 
• Dinesh Arora (was a part of Aayushman Bharat after successfully implementing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana in Kerala) made things happen despite serious limitations.