BT Explainer: What is Raghav Chadha's bill that could have made his BJP switch harder?

Raghav Chadha's move from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revived attention on a bill he introduced in Parliament in 2022 that sought to make defections far more difficult.

The Private Member's Bill, introduced soon after Chadha entered the Rajya Sabha, aimed to make party splits harder, punish defectors more severely, and curb what he described as political horse-trading.

Don't Miss: ‘Toxic work environment, corrupt members’: Raghav Chadha on why he left AAP to join BJP

What did Chadha propose?

Chadha introduced the Constitution (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2022, around three months after becoming a member of the House.

The bill sought to raise the threshold for a legitimate split or merger in a legislative party from the current two-thirds to three-fourths. That would have made it harder for groups of lawmakers to break away without attracting disqualification.

It stated that a merger would be valid only if "not less than three-fourths of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger".

The bill also proposed that MPs or MLAs who changed parties after winning elections be barred from contesting polls for six years.

Don't Miss: He hosted Kejriwal over a year, then defected: Ashok Mittal's break with AAP

Why did he say the law needed to change?

Chadha argued that the existing anti-defection law was failing to stop lawmakers from switching sides.

While introducing the bill, he spoke against "nefarious floor crossing by legislators in total disregard of the democratic wishes of the electorate who returned them".

The proposed law said it aimed to "strengthen our democracy and help our public representatives in becoming informed lawmakers rather than political party workers".

It added that although anti-defection rules were meant for "the prevention of horse-trading" of legislators, the problem remained "notoriously prevalent", with "rampant misuse of Tenth Schedule" that "are a blot on our democracy".

The bill also sought to prevent what it called "Resort Politics" by requiring lawmakers withdrawing support to a government to appear before the Chair within seven days or risk disqualification.

How is it relevant now?

Last week, Chadha defected to the BJP with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs. The seven defectors account for 7 of AAP's 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, enough to meet the current two-thirds threshold required for a recognised split under the Tenth Schedule.

But if Chadha's own proposal had become law, the bar would have risen to three-fourths - meaning he would have needed eight MPs, one more than the current number.

However, the bill never became law and is still pending.