Dharmendra Jore: All strings attached, turncoats roll the dice

This columnist recalls an interesting tale that a senior political leader had narrated to himWhen in New Delhi for a meeting the leader came across a young fellow at a national partyrsquos office Keeping a straight face the youngster introduced himself to the senior leader ldquoSir you may not know me but you must be aware of a leader who was known by a famous name of lsquoAaya Ram Gaya Ramrsquo from a state neighbouring New Delhi Irsquom from his family Irsquom in your party nowrdquo The leader said he couldnrsquot suppress a mischievous grin when the young man drove his point home without any inhibition ldquoI couldnrsquot resist myself and asked him how long he would remain in our partyrdquo the senior leader told this columnist letting out a hearty chuckleTurn the coatYou reject them but you canrsquot ignore them lsquoAaya Ram Gaya Ramrsquo aka turncoats remain an eternal reality in Indian politics Be it general elections civic polls or village panchayat polls yoursquoll find them everywhere Mumbai wasnrsquot an exception as it saw turncoats making new parties their respective homes at the last minuteProspective promising candidates and disgruntled leaders are always on the poachersrsquo radar And for turncoats remaining in power anyhow is never a second priority They compromise morality and ideology to achieve their goalsThough the lsquostorytellerrsquo did not name any specific state to which the veteran turncoat belonged one such state that shares boundary with Delhi is Haryana The state is credited with giving the country that name for turncoats when an MLA changed parties three times in a day in 1967 Indian states continue to have intricate stories of elected representatives getting wooed by power money and position even as antidefection law has made lsquoincoming and outgoingrsquo not so easy especially when it is about forming a government or stabilising a government under threatThe Maharashtra government has also proposed tougher norms in antidefection law in civic bodies that would disqualify a corporator or councillor for six years for switching loyalties This means a tough time for turncoats to act as per their whims and fancies when they are sitting representativesPower playsHowever no law can stop individuals from changing sides ahead of polls as they consider factors and offers from interested parties Deals that come through between them depend on an individualrsquos winning abilitySome do not believe in party crutches and contest as independents and take a final call after winning Independents become a muchindemand commodity in a fractured mandateMaharashtra has had minority governments that depended largely on the support extended by independentsSome of these mighty independents had joined the ruling parties later in the next polls to become a force to reckon withIn Mumbai we have seen nowseparated ruling partners Shiv Sena and BJP poaching in each otherrsquos camps They have electoral merit and are in power and hence could afford to have lucrative baits on offer that even had a couple of citizensrsquo representatives independents falling preyThe situation is no different elsewhere in Maharashtra where powerhungry parties have not given a thought to credentials of the people inducted in their folds The BJP which is pushing an agenda of anticorruption is accused of taking criminals from other outfits as its official candidates And the irony is that the parties that the BJP had accused of corruption are now levelling such serious allegations against the rulersRepetitive historyElectoral history however shows that a significant number of turncoats do get elected The 2014 Assembly polls stand testimony to this observationParties that were in power for 15 years proudly say that these turncoats still have a strong bonding with their previous political bosses though they have been elected as BJP or Sena candidates and they could switch sides again sensing which way the wind flows ahead of the 2019 pollsWhy does this happen time and again When one tries to analyse the phenomenon one may find that it may have something to do with personal equations that turncoats share with the vote bank they have been cultivating over many years Another reason that may come across shows the efforts of sensible voters falling short either because they do not go out to vote or they find themselves in the minority when it comes to questioning morality and loyalty of turncoats through the ballotDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom