CHENNAI: The resignation of four MLAs within three weeks of their election for political reasons, and with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay also vacating the Tiruchy East seat after choosing to retain Perambur constituency following his dual victory in the polls, have forced byelections in five constituencies within six months.
These byelections not only mean hardships for electors of the assembly segments, huge expenditure on the government exchequer and work pressure on the officials, but also they have reignited the debate on the need for electoral reforms or measures to curb such moves (premature resignations) by the Election Commission of India.
Due to resignation of five MLAs, the seats will remain unrepresented in the Assembly until byelections are held, while the exchequer will bear the additional cost of conducting the polls. The Model Code of Conduct will restrict new announcements, and development works requiring sustained follow-up with ministers and officials may slow down.
Voters working outside the constituencies may have to return within a short period to cast their votes, while intensified campaigning could turn these areas into political battlegrounds, disrupting normal life.
Though the expense varies from one constituency to the other, the average spending per constituency in 2026 was around Rs 5.5 crore by the government, taking the total to Rs 1,302 crore across 234 seats. The five bypolls could cost another Rs 27.5 crore, apart from the expenditure of political parties and candidates for their campaign and others.
When asked about MLAs and MPs resigning to contest elections for political or personal reasons, former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami told TNIE that there is no legal bar so far to check this. “Those who resign from their membership for political reasons should not be allowed to contest another election for the next five years. This will act as a deterrent,” Gopalaswami said. However, he was unsure if the ECI had recommended any reforms in this regard.
But he said, in a democracy, people also hold the key to such issues. If a person who has ended his membership contests again for becoming a member of the Assembly or the Lok Sabha, they (electorate) should reject such candidates, he said.
A former CEO of TN had a different perspective. When asked, how about recovering poll expenses from such elected MLAs/MPs, he said, “If you collect the cost of the actual election or byelection from the person who resigns from his membership ahead of his term for whatever reason, it would give way to party leader’s dictatorship.
That is why the ECI did not propose this as a reform. If people don’t like the resignation of an MLA, then they will defeat him in the byelection. People hold the key. But the reelected lawmakers should not be allowed to become a minister for 2-3 years,” he added.
In this regard, the former CEO recalled that the Janata Party coalition government, during 1978, introduced a Bill to insert anti-defection provisions into the Constitution. However, late leader Madhu Limaye stoutly opposed it, saying that if this Bill becomes law, it would lead to dictatorship since no MP would oppose the party leader. Legislators are not merely delegates of political parties but representatives of the people, and they should retain the freedom to vote according to their conscience. He feared that anti-defection provisions would convert MPs and MLAs into obedient agents of party leadership. Due to opposition within the Janata Party, the Bill could not be passed.
There were many public interest litigations before various courts for collecting the expenditure on the original election or the by-election from the MP or MLA who resigned without completing their full term. But they were dismissed as there is no legal provision so far.
In 2015, the Madras High Court dismissed a PIL that sought direction to collect the expenses incurred by the ECI in conducting the election to the RK Nagar constituency in 2011 from the former MLA P Vetrivel, who resigned as a member of the Assembly to facilitate the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to become a member of the State Assembly from the RK Nagar constituency.
In March 2019, a petition before the Kerala High Court sought a direction to require sitting MLAs who contest and win Lok Sabha elections to bear the cost of the resulting Assembly by-elections. The petitioner argued that, under Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission of India could devise a mechanism to prevent the financial burden on the State and inconvenience to the public caused by the political ambitions of a few individuals and parties, including by making such legislators liable for the by-election expenses.
In January 2022, the Calcutta High Court said the expenditure incurred by the State exchequer in conducting an election cannot be recovered from a candidate even if he resigns from his constituency before completion of his term in order to enable another person to contest the election from that constituency.
