Reforming Anti-Defection Laws: A Need For Change?
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 5, 2025
- 1 min read
Roshnee Vangapalli & Nimma Sumeth Reddy, BBA LLB (Hons.), ICFAI Law School
ABSTRACT
The citizens’ primary expectation when electing a representative in a democratic system is that the representative would remain loyal to the political party under whose flag they contested. What happens if they do not? Anti–defection laws try to control the political pandemonium which occurs when elected representatives tend to switch allegiance and can bring changes to Governments.
When India was undergoing these changes, there were glaring consequences. While these policies attempts to prevent chaos in governance, they also raised sobering problems: are we curtailing the representatives’ expression? If they are required to follow the party’s line all of the time, can they truly represent the will of their electorate?
The center of gravity of democracy rests on the dual pillar of durability and liberty. The two are definitely possible. These pages outline changes which would permit legislators to vote according to their actual belief framework on fundamental questions and not be labeled as opportunistic, party- switching politicians. The system needs to be designed in such a manner that the elected is able to represent the electorate but at the same time, there is sufficient control for governance to ensure political stability.
In the end, it is more constructive to reframe anti-defection policies than to outright abolish them. Fostering these changes is vital in upholding democratic values.
