When the saviours become the destroyers, certain incidents take place. In recent times, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and now Rajasthan, all these states are witnessing the same political drama which the country first witnessed in late fifties when E. M. S Namboodripad-led government, one of the world’s first elected Communist governments was dismissed for grossly misinterpreting the Constitution. Since then, whether a government is enjoying majority support in the Assembly or not has often been decided outside the house. In all these cases the Constitution was misinterpreted or misused by those who have been entrusted with the job of protecting it. The lust of testing power had become so severe that many governments collapsed before completing its term. So, when the Supreme Court ordered in line with the Sarkaria Commission recommendations that the question of majority would only be decided on the floor of the house, everyone welcomed the judgement, hoping this would put an end to the practice of misusing the Constitution. But that did not happen. Even now, often the Supreme Court or High Courts are asked to intervene whenever there is a political crisis in any state.
A close look at all these incidents will show us whether the Supreme Court or the competent courts has settled all such issues by ordering immediate floor tests. Take the two most recent examples. In Karnataka, Y. S. Yedurappa-led coalition government was asked to prove its majority within 48-hours. The government could not and had to go. This year in Madhya Pradesh too, the Congress government led by Kamal Nath was asked by the Supreme Court to face the Assembly without wasting any time. Mr. Nath failed to prove majority support and had to go. Second such incident of the same nature is taking place in Rajasthan. The state is facing a political crisis and only a floor test can settle the issue. But even before the floor test could be ordered by the state Governor, both the warring sides went to the court and till now political uncertainty is prevailing over the desert-state. Two warring sides, one led by Chief Minister Ashoke Gehlot and the other led by his erstwhile deputy Sachin Pilot are leaving no stone unturned to legally checkmate each other, showing very little or no respect at all to the Constitution. Gehlot camp is trying to win this power tussle by disqualifying the membership of those MLAs who are opposed to his leadership on the pretext of anti-party activities. On the other hand, Mr. Pilot and his followers are trying hard to save their membership to keep their bargaining power intact in the future too. Instead of asking for legal intervention, if both sides agreed to decide the issue on the floor of the house, it would have strengthened our faith on the Indian Constitution. But now they have reduced the Constitution to just another piece of paper. The latest developments show that politicians remember the Constitution only when its Articles suit them. Otherwise, it is being misused at random by the political parties. Such misuse should be prevented at any cost.
