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18 Jul 2026POLITY3 questions

Six MPs, One Paragraph: The Merger Exception the Anti-Defection Law Still Leaves Open

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Article summary

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on 18 July 2026 approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) members with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, formally shifting them to the latter's parliamentary party ahead of the Monsoon Session. In the same set of decisions he ordered separate seating for twenty rebel Trinamool Congress members while keeping pending their demand for recognition as a distinct parliamentary party. The decisions turn on Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, which exempts from disqualification a legislator whose original party merges with another, provided not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party agree to that merger. Paragraph 4 is the one exception the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003 left standing when it deleted the earlier one-third split provision. The episode places the Speaker's adjudicatory role under scrutiny once again.

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recallTests whether you read the article and retained key facts.
1Q
applicationTests whether you can apply the concept to a new scenario.
1Q
analysisTests whether you can reason across multiple related facts.
1Q

Sample questions — answers revealed after test

POLITYRecallEasy

Q1. Which one of the following is a ground of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution?

AFailure to attend a specified minimum number of sittings of the House in a session.
BVoting or abstaining from voting contrary to the direction of the party whip, unless condoned by the party within fifteen days.
CPublicly criticising the leadership of one's own political party outside the House.
DAccepting an office of profit under the Government of India.
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POLITYApplicationMedium

Q2. A group of legislators is granted separate seating in the House while its claim to recognition as a distinct parliamentary party remains undecided. Which one of the following best describes the legal significance of that arrangement?

ASeparate seating amounts to recognition, since the House has acknowledged the group's distinct existence.
BSeparate seating automatically triggers disqualification proceedings against the members concerned.
CSeating is a matter of House administration under its rules, whereas recognition determines speaking time, committee places and office allocation — and neither answers the separate constitutional question of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule.
DSeating arrangements are determined by the Election Commission rather than by the presiding officer.
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POLITYAnalysisHard

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the anti-defection framework: 1. The Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985 inserted the Tenth Schedule and amended Articles 101, 102, 190 and 191. 2. A member who resigns their seat, contests the resulting by-election on another party's ticket and is re-elected does not thereby attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. 3. The Tenth Schedule prescribes a period of three months within which the presiding officer must decide a disqualification petition. Which of the statements given above are correct?

A1 and 2 only
B1 only
C2 and 3 only
D1, 2 and 3
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