Kapil Sibal calls for 10-year ban on politicians switching parties mid-term

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Kapil Sibal proposed that the Tenth Schedule should be reworked so that a merger would simply mean a merger of political parties and not a mass walkout by legislators. File | Photo Credit: ANI

Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal suggested that anyone who changes their political party during an active term should be disqualified from contesting elections and serving as an elected representative for the next five or ten years. 

He was delivering a talk on horse-trading and democracy at an event conducted by the Kerala State Committee of the All India Lawyers Union (AILU), on Sunday (September 13, 2026). “I have a confession, I am a Dimagi Naxal” he declared as he began his speech.

The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with anti-defection, provides that a Member of Parliament would not be disqualified for defection if his political party merged with another political party and two-thirds of the party agreed to the merger.

The clause, which was designed to protect political realignment, has now become the preferred instrument of wholesale defection, he noted.

“Those in power will not hurry to close a loophole that benefits them. If one accepts that two-thirds of a legislative party may rewrite an election, it will subordinate the significance of the people’s will to post-poll arithmetic,” Mr. Sibal said.

He proposed that the Tenth Schedule should be reworked so that a merger would simply mean a merger of political parties and not a mass walkout by legislators. “Any inducement, be it cash, office, contracts or the quashing of an enquiry, must be treated as corruption and not as the ordinary give-and-take of politics,” he pointed out.

“The harm caused by the reality of political defection is not technical; it is foundational,” Mr. Sibal said. “The people’s mandate after an election ends up falsified, as the electoral verdict can change when legislators switch sides. When the citizens’ mandate is treated as a transferable asset, the promise of a democracy ends up dishonoured. Legislators changing political parties mid-term weakens their accountability, both to the citizens and within parties. Public faith declines in investigative agencies, Governors, Speakers of Legislative Assemblies and Courts when they are drawn into the making of majorities, while processing defection petitions. When regional parties, representing distinct political communities, are absorbed through defection, the different voices of the public are not just defeated; they are taken over,” Mr. Sibal stated. 

He commended the Union’s concern over the issue and noted that it was not by accident that Keralam was spared the crudest versions of defection; it was because of the political culture, a party system and a vigilant public. 

AILU State president and senior lawyer K. Gopalakrishna Kurup presided over the meeting. AILU secretary N.C. Mohanan welcomed the gathering, and Joint Secretary N. Manoj Kumar proposed the vote of thanks.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.