Political parties that don't keep poll promises after being elected should be de-recognised: BJP MP in Lok Sabha
Vibha Sharma
New Delhi, December 11
While Rajya Sabha saw heated arguments over a private member bill on the implementation of the controversial UCC, the Lok Sabha, too, witnessed some interesting moments over a private member’s legislation setting conditions for recognition of a political party as a national party.
The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2019, introduced by BJP MP Gopal Chinayya Shetty earlier, calls for derecognising political parties on performance. During the discussion, Shetty added that political parties which do not fulfil poll promises after coming to power should be de-recognised.
“In an election announcements are made and after winning are not fulfilled. So I demand that such political parties, which are recognised, should be cancelled,” he said.
The Election Commission should come up with guidelines on which promises could be made at the time of elections, he added.
Pointing out that India will have nine recognised parties after the Gujarat elections, Shetty said: “If we do not get 6 per cent of the total vote (in elections), our security deposit is forfeited. In the Gujarat election, we saw that the Aam Aadmi Party also got 13% votes and they will get national recognition.”
The Bill evoked sharp reactions from BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, who reminded Shetty of the times when the BJP had just two members in the Lok Sabha.
The mover of the bill has a hidden agenda, to end the multi-party system, Mahtab said.
“Do we benefit if national parties are limited to certain numbers? Although the Congress was the dominant political party earlier, it did not restrict the number of political parties. The power to elect political representatives should be left to the people,” Mahtab said.
“The result would be that there would be only one or two national parties in the country. Does this adhere to the constitutional provision of our country? Did the Constitution-makers, who deliberated for more than two years and seven months, want this?” he said.
