UPSC Mains 2013 GS Paper 2 Q1: model answer
The role of individual MPs (Members of Parliament) has diminished over the years and as a result healthy constructive debates on policy issues are not usually witnessed. How far can this be attributed to the anti-defection law which was legislated but with a different intention?
What the question wants
Judge how far the anti-defection law, meant to stop floor-crossing, explains the diminished role of individual MPs and weak policy debate.
How to structure it
How far can this be attributed: show the intended purpose, the side effect, then other causes.
- Why the law came
- How it silences MPs
- Other causes
- Reforms
How to think it through
The law was made for 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' in 1967, when an MLA in Haryana changed parties three times in a fortnight. It ended up making every vote a party vote. But whips existed before 1985 too. So it is a big cause, not the only one. Gaya Lal, at least, never suffered from a lack of options.
Model answer
In 1967 Gaya Lal, an MLA in Haryana, changed parties three times in a fortnight and gave Indian politics the phrase 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram'. The 52nd Amendment (1985) added the Tenth Schedule to stop that.
The intended purpose
Disqualify a member who voluntarily gives up party membership or votes against the party whip; protect stable governments and the voter's mandate.
How it diminished the MP
- Every vote, even on a technical Bill, can be whipped; dissent means losing the seat.
- MPs stop reading Bills they cannot change; debate becomes a party speech.
- In Kihoto Hollohan (1992) the Court upheld the law, so the whip reached all votes.
Other causes
- Fewer sittings: about 55 a year in the 17th Lok Sabha against over 120 in the 1950s.
- Bills passed without committee scrutiny; few Private Members' Bills discussed.
- Disruptions and guillotines.
Reforms
The Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990) and the Law Commission (170th report) suggested limiting the whip to confidence and money votes. Manish Tewari's Private Member's Bill (2021) proposed the same.
So the law explains much of the silence, but not all; Parliament's own habits do the rest. An MP who cannot change a vote can still change a law through a sharp committee report or a good question, but only if the House gives time for both. Reviving Private Members' Bills on Fridays would be a cheap start.
Draw: A funnel: MP's view → party whip → vote, with the Tenth Schedule as the narrow neck.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Tenth Schedule, 52nd Amendment 1985, 91st Amendment 2003, Aaya Ram Gaya Ram 1967, Kihoto Hollohan 1992, whip, Dinesh Goswami 1990, Law Commission 170th report.
Where most answers lose marks
- Blaming the law alone. 'How far' needs other causes too.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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