Category Archives: Democracy & Governance

Britain goes for Right to Recall: what about India!

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Citizens of Britain are all set to get the RIGHT TO RECALL which will allow voters to demand a by-election to seek an opportunity to replace a sitting Member of Parliament. The voters would be required to get the signatures of at least 10% of registered voters of that constituency in an eight-week period. This procedure will only be initiated if MPs are given jail sentences or if the House of Commons agree that they have engaged in serious wrongdoing (in my opinion, this right should not be left to the House. If voters want to RECALL, let them gather up to reach 10 % number of signatures. In USA, this number is 25 %).
Right to Recall can be a cumbersome process and is rarely used as a weapon by the citizens because of its complex applicability. Nevertheless, the existence of this provision exerts a pressure on the elected representatives to be more accountable towards the public. It also gives a chance to the public to keep a more effective tab on its elected representatives.
Many countries including USA have empowered their voters with the tool of Right to Recall. Britain will soon get it. India should also move in this direction. We in India do not have it! Aam Aadmi Party is the only political party that has been vociferously demanding the two tools that will change the political landscape forever: Right to Reject and Right to Recall.

Will Indian law-makers take a cue from Britain and go for it since it is never too late to deliver something good!

Yeddyurappa: an enfant terrible for Modi

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Here we go again! BS Yeddyurappa – the enfant terrible of BJP- brings fresh episode of migraine for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Will Mr. Modi take a remedial action to get rid of this problem?

B Vinod, a Shimoga-based advocate, had filed a complaint against BJP National Vice President Mr. BS Yeddyurappa and his son and M.L.A. Mr. B Y Raghavendra accusing them of purchasing land through illegal means. These complaints were dismissed by the Shimoga Lokayukta Court on the grounds that a sanction from the Governor for prosecution prior to filing the complaint was not taken by the complainant. A criminal revision petition, challenging the court order was filed by Vinod in the High Court.
The charges made are as follows: Dhavalagiri Properties, owned by family members of Yeddyurappa, had purchased 69 acres near Hunasekatte village in Bhadravati taluk through benamidars and various provisions of Karnataka Land Reforms Act have been violated in purchasing the land. Yeddyurappa had also misused power in getting the land transferred to the name of the firm owned by his family members.
Today, Justice Anand Byrareddy has dismissed the Shimoga Lokayukta Court order which had dismissed complaints against Yeddyurappa and his son B Y Raghavendra accusing them of purchasing the land through illegal means. The Karnatka High court has ordered Lokayukta Police to initiate an inquiry into the matter.
Although corruption charges against Yeddyuruppa do not come as a surprise as he has a tainted history behind him. BUT now PM Modi‘s allegiance towards anti-corruption stand is at test. Will BJP choose the rhetorical reason that as the matter is sub judice,  nothing can be explained? Or, Will the Prime Minister Mr. Modi sack Yedyurappa as BJP’s Vice President? Time will tell. But, sure enough, on the eve of Deepawali, Mr. Modi has a new set of dilemma (dharam-sankat): To act tough on corruption or let it be (once again)!

Will Modi take up the fight to de-criminalize Indian politics?

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Last week, the Election Commission of India made a few proposals for electoral reforms to the Law Ministry, which have further been referred to the Law Commission.

Two important issues that Election Commission has raised are:
1. The EC proposes that if a person is accused in a criminal case where the (minimum) punishment is imprisonment of five years and charges have been framed by the competent magistrate at least six months before the scheduled date of election, then in that case he should be DISQUALIFIED from contesting elections.
I personally welcome the Election Commission’s proposal. If implemented, it will effectively help in decriminalizing politics in India.
2. Another proposal made by the Election Commission addresses the malpractice of filing of false affidavits by the candidates before elections.
As per the proposal: A person who files false affidavit will not only be given some punishment but also would be disqualified from contesting elections.
The aforesaid disqualification clause can prove to be a major deterrent to the candidates from telling lies.
The task of nation building can not be accomplished without taking some tough decisions. Electoral reforms that help cleanse the system of goons and criminals should be a priority for the Modi government. I hope Prime Minister Mr. Modi implements these proposals without any delay.

Is the black-money chase turning into a pied pipers dream?

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While addressing a rally in Haryana on April 3 2014, Modi as a prime ministerial candidate had said: “…I promise whether a new law is needed or a new pact with another country is required, I will bring this black-money back to India.”
Now on October 17, 2014- approximately seven months later -Mr. Modi is the Prime Minister of India. The Modi Government says that NOT all information can be disclosed and requests the Supreme Court to modify its order in the black money case on absolute disclosure of information pertaining to people who stashed tainted money abroad. The reason being put forth is the double taxation avoidance agreement to state information relating to account holders in foreign banks could not be put in public domain by virtue of the treaty.
I have a question: ” Are not double tax treaties aimed at avoidance of double taxation burden on ASSESSES rather than being considered as a vow of SECRECY?”

Is this not a betrayal by BJP, when so many voted them to power on their promise of ‪#‎Blackmoney‬? 

Even UPA gave the same excuse while in power. As opposition, BJP had come come up with a 23 point charter for getting back the black money stashed abroad citing the example of Tunisia. Here is the link for the same: http://ap.bjp.org/component/content/article/165.
The BJP’s U-turn has only one explanation: BJP had fought parliamentary elections with black money , as till date source of the funding is not known. So how can BJP disclose the names of those who funded their campaign! 

Abolish Booth-wise vote count

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During assembly and Parliamentary elections, you go to cast your secret ballot at a Pooling Booth. Typically, 1000-1200 voters are assigned to one booth. Each polling booth has one Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

When the results of elections are declared, people get to know which candidate got how many voters overall. That is for sure! But, election commission also declares the details to the tune of each EVM or Polling Booth. In other words, a candidate or party comes to know how many votes were polled in favor or against from that particular segment of voter population.

The Election Commission had recommended that the practice of declaring results at Booth level be abolished as it exposes the voters preferences to the political parties and candidates.

The Supreme Court asked the Central government yesterday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation: “Why are you sleeping over a 6 years old proposal of Election Commission to stop Booth-wise counting of votes”? The Center’s counsel replied: “The proposal has been sent to the Law Commission”. 

What a lethargy pace! Our tortoise of the rabbit-tortoise story will be put to shame by the Indian government!

Abolition of declaration of results at the EVM-level is a much needed reform in our electoral democracy. Politicians with vindictive attitude exploit this information to take vengeance if voters of a particular booth(s) did not vote for him/her. Remember the incidence of Maharastra Chief Minister  Ajit Pawar threatening voters in villages of Baramati Lok Sabha seat?  Mr. Pawar was campaigning for his cousin Ms . Supriya Sule – a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate in the last Lok Sabha elections held a few months back. 
Let us hope the wheels of Mr. Modi-led government would move faster as he won elections on the plank of ‘vikaas’!

Where should refugees go?

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Syria has been under civil war since more than three years. The emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has further compounded the problem, thus creating a huge pool of humanity that finds itself uprooted. I look upon the problem of refugees in Syria and other parts of the world in this article which was published on September 1, 2014 in “The Political & Business Daily” newspaper.

Syria Refugee Crisis PBD

संसद में हस्तियां: कितनी उपयोगिता ?

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मेरा आलेख “संसद में हस्तियां: कितनी उपयोगिता?” वीर अर्जुन समाचार पत्र में अगस्त 30, 2014 को प्रकाशित हुआ.

आपकी प्रतिक्रिया का स्वागत है.

आलेख का लिंक

Sansad mein Khyatiyan Vir Arjun

 

Time to raise the bar for honest politics

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August 27, 2014: The Supreme Court said today: “As a trustee of the Constitution, the Prime Minister is expected NOT to appoint unwarranted persons as ministers.” The constitution bench hearing a decade old plea on dismissal of some tainted ministers (at that time, Mr. Man Mohan Singh was the Prime Minister)) observed further: “It is expected that the PM will not appoint persons against whom charges have been framed and he is facing trial. We leave it to the PM and Chief Ministers.”

The Supreme Court has rightly refused to disqualify the ministers with criminal charges, saying it is up to the elected political leadership to take action on that. The apex court observed that it is primarily the duty of the head of states (Prime Minister and Chief Ministers) to practice politics with morality.

Getting 4 Ministers of UPA govt led by Man Mohan Singh of the year 2004 disqualified now is a moot point. However, the Supreme Court’s observations are very timely since the standards of our politics have hardly improved in the last 10 years!

It is a CLARION CALL for our politicians. The nation expects you to set a high bar of clean and honest politics. Will Prime Minister Shri Modi cleanse his house NOW? He has 14 Ministers with criminal records. Will he pause and reflect at what the constitution bench has just said?

 

 

Celebrities in Parliament

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This article was published on August 18,2014 in “The Political & Business Daily”. The clipping is attached. 

The Parliament has seen some of the most famous personalities (sans Politicians) as its member, due to the power of Article 80 of the Indian Constitution. The said article confers upon the President, the power to nominate (not more than) 12 members to the Rajya Sabha. The Article 80(3) further states that “The members to be nominated by the President under sub clause (a) of clause ( 1 ) shall consist of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following, namely: Literature, science, art and social service”.

Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of our bicameral Parliament (Sansad). The Members of Parliament for Rajya Sabha are elected directly via a collegium consisting of elected members of assemblies of the sates of India.

There is hardly any doubt over the fact that this rule has helped the Parliament to adopt a diverse culture, along with getting expert opinions by these members over the issues pertaining to their field of expertise. But on the other hand, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that any of these has hardly made a significant contribution to the Parliament’s proceedings. The recent voices of dissent against these members for ‘short attendance in the Parliament’ have done more harm than good to the reputation of Article 80. Sachin Tendulkar, who faced the most criticism for short attendance, made a statement that he couldn’t attend the Parliament as his brother was undergoing a surgery. While no one in the country would ever doubt the integrity of Sachin Tendulkar, this recent incident has surely given a food for thought regarding the sincerity of the Nominated members towards the Parliament’s proceedings.

Apart from Tendulkar, the other celebrity who came under fire for the similar issue was Rekha, who currently has a measly attendance of 5%. The particular article in question has given the Rajya Sabha some of its most learned members, such as Dr. Zakir Husain, Dr. Alladi Krishnaswami and Satyendranath Bose.

Speaking about the nominated members, Jawaharlal Nehru said in the House of the People on 13 May, 1953:

“…The President has nominated some members of the Council of States who, if I may say so, are among the most distinguished, taking everybody in Parliament altogether—it is true, distinguished in arts, science, etc.—and our Constitution in its wisdom gave that. They do not represent political parties or anything, but they represent really the high watermark of literature or art or culture or whatever it may be”

Since the inception of the Rajya Sabha, more than 150 members have been nominated by the President under this rule. Among these are some of the brightest minds in the country including scholars, jurists, social workers and artists. Over the years, these exceptionally talented individuals have undoubtedly raised the level of debating in the Parliament.

Here, it must be mentioned that these nominated members aren’t given any special privileges over and above the rules for the elected members. These members also need to fulfil the minimum attendance requirement of the house or else face disqualification. But the bone of contention is that these exceptional individuals were, at the first place, nominated to the house because they exhibited utmost integrity and work ethics in their field of work. They are expected to showcase exemplary behaviour and show the other member how it is done! Consequently, they are constantly under the radar of everyone. But if there is one thing we have seen from these champions’ past, it is that they know how to answer their critics with their work. Let just hope that the history repeats itself yet again!