Across the aisle by P Chidambaram: Rebuff to centralism

Posted on:
Key Points

The best inoculation against centralism is to keep our electoral and political system plural several parties winning power in the states and at least two parties contesting for power at the Centre...

In 2018, the Supreme Court had interpreted Article 239AA of the Constitution and held that in all matters save public order, police and land, the executive power was vested in the Council of Ministers of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor, Delhi was obliged to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers..

The Tenth Schedule allowed an exception from the perils of defection only if one of two conditions was satisfied: (1) if the parent political party merged with another political party and not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party agreed to such merger; (2) if the legislator(s) has/have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate group in the legislature..

The Supreme Court ruled that the Whip is the person appointed by the political party (in this case, Shiv Sena); that the Governor had no cause to call a session of the legislative assembly and direct Mr Thackeray to secure a vote of confidence; and that the Speaker was obliged to decide on the disqualification petition as soon as possible...

The infamous Operation Lotus(es) in different states; the Bulldozer justice in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam; the denial or reduction of funds to non-BJP ruled states on one pretext or other; the rash of criminal cases against Opposition political leaders; the Constitutionally-suspect laws such as the amendment of Article 370 and the law on electoral bonds; the threat of enacting a Uniform Civil Code; the threat of creating a National Register of Citizens; the use of List III-Concurrent List to override State laws (e.g. education); the usurpation of taxation powers under the GST laws; and many other actions are aimed at achieving one overarching goal to bring 140 crore people under one umbrella of governance under an omnipotent and omnipresent central government..

You might be interested in

Big shock to those who run political parties through dynasties : CM Shinde takes swipe at Uddhav, Congres

11, Jan, 24

In a blow to Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared Eknath Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena after the split in June 2022. The Speaker cited the 1999 constitution as valid, rejecting the 2018 leadership structure and stating that Uddhav Thackeray's removal of Eknath Shinde wasn't accepted under the party constitution. Shinde's faction, in celebration, hailed it as the victory of truth and democracy. The split occurred when Shinde, along with 37 MLAs, joined the BJP, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray government.

Sena vs Sena: The problem with the anti-defection law

16, May, 23

If political parties want their leaders to toe the party line, they must invest more in internal party democracy. The real question is whether the Constitution should assist parties that are struggling to keep their members together

Sena vs Sena: CM Eknath Shinde-led faction is real Shiv Sena, says Maha Speaker; Thackeray faction to chal

10, Jan, 24

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has rejected the Uddhav Thackeray faction's 2018 amendment to the Shiv Sena constitution. The Supreme Court allowed the Speaker until January 10 to pronounce the decision on disqualification petitions against MLAs, including Shinde.

Deve Gowda rubbishes speculations of JD(S), BJP joining hands to topple Cong govt in Karnataka

27, Oct, 23

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and his party have claimed that JD(S) and BJP are hatching a ploy to topple the Congress-ruled government in the southern state

Explaining speaker's verdict in Marathi, presenting documents — how Uddhav is going to ‘people’s court’

17, Jan, 24

At Janata Nyayalaya following Speaker Rahul Narwekar's ruling on 'real' Shiv Sena, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray says 'final verdict is delivered by the public'.

Shiv Sena factions move courts against speaker’s verdict in disqualification pleas

16, Jan, 24

While the Thackeray faction moved the Supreme Court against Narwekar declaring as the “real political party” the bloc headed by Shinde, the latter challenged the speaker’s decision to not disqualify 14 Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators before the Bombay high court | Latest News India

Sena MLAs' disqualification: What is the case? What will the Speaker decide on?

10, Jan, 24

As we await the Speaker's decision on the Sena MLAs' disqualification petitions, here is a look at what is the case and what Narwekar will decide on.

Karnataka Assembly Election | BJP stands for promotion of all languages, says Amit Shah

04, May, 23

Dismissing the allegation that the BJP and the Union government were trying to impose Hindi in the southern State, Mr. Shah said the Narendra Modi government had put in systems to conduct various recruitment tests in all languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.