Will Venkaiah Naidu Question Babu And KCR on Turncoat MLAs?

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

The manner in which Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu acted on the provisions of the Anti-Defection Bill may be controversial, but his observations deserve to be welcomed by all. He suggested that defections should be curbed and that presiding officers should take action on defectors within three months. All this sounds good in principle. Venkaiah Naidu had disqualified Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar Ansari following a split in Bihar's JD(U). It is worth recalling that the JD (U), RJD and Congress came together to form the Mahagatbandhan or Grand Alliance. This alliance came to power after defeating the BJP coalition.

Nitish Kumar, in a sudden move, switched over to the NDA. In the past, the
Haryana Chief Minister of the time, Bhajan Lal, took the entire unit of the Janata Party with him and merged it with the Congress. While the party remained intact in Bihar's case, the switch-over to another party is evident, and that too into the NDA, which has been ruling at the Centre. Sharad Yadav and others were opposed to this crossing over to NDA and argued that it was unethical. They also articulated their views in the House, following which Nitish Kumar's faction sought the disqualification of Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar Ansari from Rajya Sabha.

Based on the petition by the Nitish Kumar faction to disqualify the break-away MPs, Venkaiah Naidu moved swiftly to declare them ineligible. He also invoked the principle of the "majority decision" though CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and others raised their objection to his action on the issue. They wanted the matter to be referred to the Privileges Committee and questioned Venkaiah Naidu on by-passing this procedure. If a similar situation were to arise involving BJP MPs would they be disqualified?

If we assume that Venkaiah Naidu's action is justifiable, why is it not being followed in the Lok Sabha? How does one explain the inaction of the Speaker on the issue of defection of two YSRCP MPs into the TDP? Isn't the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan bound by rules as Venkaiah Naidu is? Can her inaction be interpreted as tacit support to these defectors? Venkaiah Naidu may not be connected with this matter directly, but he has also held the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs for a long time. The question of defections came up at that time as well. However, never did he suggest to the Speaker then that such decisive action should be taken on the matter of defections.

Moreover, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, defections have been going on in a brazen fashion. Venkaiah Naidu is in a key position of authority as Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman. More than forty legislators in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have defected in the most immoral fashion possible. What is worse is that in both the states chief ministers themselves have welcomed these defectors into their political parties, at the cost of values in politics. Both KCR and Chandrababu Naidu enjoy a good rapport with Venkaiah Naidu . In fact, people say that the proximity and understanding between Chandrababu Naidu and Venkaiah Naidu is beyond description.

If Venkaiah Naidu had cautioned Chandrababu Naidu against defections and had asked him to act against such brazen floor-crossing by disqualifying defectors, the Rajya Sabha Chairman would have risen in stature. Instead, he patted Chandrababu Naidu on the back for everything and had nothing but praise for him. While he heaped a lot of praise on Chandrababu Naidu, not once did he give him this wise piece of advice.

Similarly, Venkaiah Naidu shared the dais with AP Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao on many occasions, but not once did he give give him this counsel. While he attended yagnas conducted by KCR with enthusiasm, never did he gave him any advice on this subject.. No one would point a finger at him for speaking out of context if he chose to speak about values and ethics.

At least now, Venkaiah Naidu can speak out against defections in the two states, even if he did not do so all these days. Shouldn't he question Chandrababu Naidu and KCR on rewarding defector-MLAs with ministers' positions? Shouldn't he point out the immorality of these actions and ask them to send such defectors packing immediately? Further, if Venkaiah Naidu takes a stand that he would not attend any function organised by the governments of AP or Telangana, he would add stature and authority to the constitutional position that he holds. Sadly, while he attended felicitation functions in both the states, his silence on ethics and values in politics, is saddening. Will Venkaiah Naidu speak out on defections in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at least now and in the bargain, enhance his reputation?