Name the person with whom would you associate the following slogan: 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram'.

Gaya Lal

The phrase 'aya ram, gaya ram' gained prominence in India's political discourse, illustrating the trend of frequent party-switching by legislators. Translated literally, the phrase means 'Ram came, Ram went'. This saying originated from a remarkable instance of party-switching performed by Gaya Lal, an MLA in Haryana, in 1967. In a span of just two weeks, he changed his political allegiance three times—shifting from the Congress to the United Front, back to Congress, and then, astonishingly, back to the United Front within a mere nine hours.

Reportedly, during Gaya Lal's announcement of his decision to leave the United Front and join the Congress, Rao Birendra Singh, a Congress leader, brought him before the Chandigarh press and proclaimed that 'Gaya Ram had now become Aya Ram' (meaning Gaya Ram turned into a political chameleon). This episode was captured in the saying 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram', which soon became a source of humor through jokes and cartoons. Subsequently, amendments were made to the Constitution to curtail such defections.

This phrase serves as a reminder of the era marked by frequent party-switching and the subsequent steps taken to address this issue by amending the Constitution.