(This story originally appeared in on Jan 27, 2022)

If winning an election was not tough enough, a much more strenuous task that confronts contemporary political parties is to ensure that candidates or winning MLAs do not ditch them at the last moment for greener pastures.

However, as the assembly polls to five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa – draw closer, top political parties including BJP and the Congress are experimenting with ingenious ways to ensure it is not easy for leaders to jilt them.

BJP’s agreement of cooperation in Manipur

Despite being the country’s most powerful political entity, the defection bug has not spared even the BJP. In Uttar Pradesh, the decision by former minister Swami Prasad Maurya, to quit the party and join rival Samajwadi Party (SP) did prove to be a tough moment for the saffron party.

However, the Manipur leaders of the party are exploring a unique method to ensure leaders do not switch sides at the turn of a hat.

The BJP has signed an “agreement of cooperation” with several party members who might be fielded in the upcoming Manipur assembly elections in a bid to prevent switching of allegiance before the polls.

“The party has signed an agreement of cooperation with many probable candidates in the presence of chief minister N Biren Singh, so that they don’t switch sides amid the developing political scenario” BJP’s chief spokesperson in the state, Ch Bijoy, told PTI on Thursday.

Interestingly, the BJP which is the state’s ruling party managed to rule with the help of opposition leaders who in past years entered its fold.

Loyalty oath for Congress in Goa


The events of 2017 appear to continue to hurt the Congress. It emerged as the largest party after polls but the BJP went on to form the government. In the last five years, the Congress saw a majority of its MLAs hopping to other sides.

However, ahead of the 2022 polls, the party decided to appeal to higher powers. All the 36 party candidates were marched up to the gods, where they swore an oath that they would remain faithful to Congress. Congress Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said the unusual move is a way to give the electorate confidence about the party’s candidates.

The candidates found themselves shepherded to Mahalaxmi temple in Panaji, Miraculous Cross shrine at Bambolim, and Hazrat Mohamad Hamza Shah Dargah at Betim, promising the gods that they will not go “hevten-tevten” (here and there in Konkani) after the elections.

There have been reports that the Manipur unit of the party has also decided to adopt the exercise.

Aam Aadmi Party’s loyalty experiment in Chandigarh

Even as the Congress faced taunts from rivals on not trusting its candidates, the loyalty oath experiment was not without a precedent.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal tried the experiment in the recent Chandigarh municipal polls. Aiming to keep his team intact, the Delhi chief minister administered its elected candidates an oath and made them distribute signed papers among people of their respective wards. For the first time in Chandigarh politics, elected councillors were asked to swear on God that they would remain loyal to the party and show commitment in getting public works done at any cost.

The AAP was the largest party yet still short of numbers which the BJP was able to muster in the house.

Time tested methods

Even as the parties try to instill a spiritual-ethical dimension in their politics, the old strategies of dealing with rebels continue to be exercised as well. A dispute on some issues led to Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat getting expelled from the ruling BJP. However, it was not long that Rawat enthusiastically entered the Congress fold.

In Uttar Pradesh, Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent OBC face in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet decided to move to the SP. However, the BJP was quick to adapt to the setback.

The party has inducted another prominent OBC face, RPN Singh, into its fold, this time at the expense of the Congress.

Limited legal utlity of pacts and oaths


Lawyer Rushab Aggarwal, however, feels that in a pre or a post-poll scenario, such pacts against turncoating will not be very meaningful.

“In the event of crossing over, the judgment of the Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu, which authoritatively dealt with anti-defection as codified under the Tenth Schedule will apply as to the ramifications of such defection,” he said referring to the issue of post-poll defections.

“Similarly, in my opinion, these pre-election pacts to avoid crossovers are not only lacking in legal standing but also in the difficulty to enforce such a pact. The nomination guidelines of the Election Commission give the liberty to any candidate to withdraw its nomination before the specified date. In such a scenario the candidate can certainly cross party lines, although they may not be able to contest as the date of filing nomination closes prior to the date of withdrawal. In my opinion, such pacts are futile,” he added.