I Am A 'Dimagi Naxal': Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal

Kochi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said that he was a 'Dimagi Naxal', a term coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and used by the BJP to attack those they accuse of being ideological sympathisers of Naxalism.

Sibal referred to himself as a 'Dimagi Naxal' while speaking at a talk here on 'Horse Trade and Democracy'.

"I have to make a confession. I am a 'Dimagi Naxal'," he said while beginning his speech.

Modi had used the term as a warning to the country about "dimagi naxals" who have allegedly entrenched themselves in the system and continue to pose a threat to society by manipulating policies.

He had urged citizens to "identify and isolate" them.

On the topic of horse trading, Sibal said that during ancient times the equine species played an important role in "determining the outcome of wars".

He said that back then, due to the importance of horses, their sellers played various tricks while selling them to the buyers.

"It has now taken a different colour. At that point in time, it was the seller who used to be the trickster. At this point in time, it is the buyer who is the trickster. That is the difference," he said, while speaking at the event organised by LiveLaw.

He further said that horse trading was not a "passing political scandal", but a "constitutional crisis".

"It strikes at representative government, at the integrity of the vote, and the basic structure of parliamentary democracy. Horse trading is an ugly phrase for an uglier practice.

"It is the organised purchase or inducement of elected representatives so that a majority manufactured after the election replaces a majority chosen by the people. Sometimes it is crude -- cash, office, protection from investigation -- and sometimes it emerges as a respectable clothing of a merger," he contended.

He said the result is that while the citizen votes for one mandate, "power is delivered to another".

"The harm is not technical, it is foundational," he said.

He said that Keralam has been, by-and-large "spared the crudest version of this theatre".

Sibal said that this was not by accident, but due to the political culture of the state, the party system and a vigilant public.

"I commend you (people of Keralam) for it," he said.

Sibal called for changes to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution so that party mergers don't act as "loopholes for mass walkouts".

He said that presently, a defection does not lead to disqualification if two-thirds of the legislative party members of a political party cross over to the other side and it is treated as a merger of parties.

He said that the Tenth Schedule be amended to close this "loophole" and ensure that "a merger is a merger of political parties and not a collective walkout by legislators".