Hung house in undivided AP may lead to horse-trading among elected candidates
Hyderabad: While there are chances that a Union government will be in place almost immediately after the Lok Sabha results are declared on May 16, this is not the case with the 294 candidates elected to the Assembly in undivided AP state. They will have to wait for 15 days for the state to be formally divided into two, paving the way for the formation of popular governments.
This development, and particularly the 15-day gap, may lead to horse-trading among elected candidates if the May 16 Assembly results throws up a hung House.
“We cannot rule out horse-trading among elected candidates. This phenomenon is not new in Indian Parliamentary democracy. It may happen even in Delhi. The 15-day gap may further escalate the trading,” said noted Constitutional expert Dr P. P. Rao.
Horse-trading essentially means getting elected legislators to cross over to other parties by offering bribes. To prevent such poaching
of candidates, parties isolate their candidates in ‘camps’.
The Union government has fixed June 2 as the appointed day for formally splitting the state into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Since the state is currently under President’s Rule, which is likely to continue till June 2, the Governor cannot take steps to form the two governments immediately after the declaration of results.
As per the statute, it is the Election Commission’s responsibility to submit a list of candidates elected to the Governor, who will in turn take steps to duly constitute the Legislature and invite a political party to form the government.
However, in the peculiar situation that the undivided state is in, where elections were held under President’s Rule and state bifurcation is simultaneously going ahead, political parties are forced to wait till the whole process is complete to see a popular government in place.
“Suppose there is a narrow margin between the Telugu Desam and YSR Congress in the final tally, the people who occupy the highest posts in the Union government may try to influence the mandate to their political advantage,” said a leader from the YSR Congress.
Noted advocate S. Ramachandra Rao said there is possibility of horse trading. “We cannot prevent that legally, as they are elected candidates only, and unless they take the oath in the Assembly, they cannot be treated as MLAs,” he said.
However, sources close to Raj Bhavan said, “There is no possibility of hoodwinking the popular mandate. The Governor is expected to act in a most unbiased manner and he will strictly go by the Constitution and the conventions.”
