Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu asserted that his party was in favour of an electoral system to recall the elected representatives if the people feel he or she had not acted as per their wishes and turned corrupt. Interacting with students of V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College here on Thursday Mr. Naidu said that an effective Lokpal was necessary to eradicate graft. It was not a question of whether Parliament should have supremacy or not.
Corruption
“The problem is graft which had taken deep roots and affecting all walks of life. An independent institution was required to check the corruption”, he opined taking a volley of questions from the students. Mr. Naidu, however, said that setting up of Lokpal and Lokayuktas (in states) alone would not eradicate graft.
The awareness among the people was utmost important, apart from stringent laws and systems, he said. The court supervision of probe into graft-related cases against YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in disproportionate assets case reflects failure of the Government, he said. The beauty of Constitution was that there were fine checks and balances. With the failure of the Governments, the judiciary and civil society were active, he added.
Poll expenditure
“The election expenditure increased phenomenally. There was an urgent need for State funding of elections, judicial accountability, electoral and political reforms in the country to check corruption”, he observed.
Effective laws and systems were required to send a strong message that guilty would not be spared, he said.
When asked about allegations against him, he said, “They (YSR Congress and Congress) are alleging that I earned Rs.2,000 crore.
I will disclose all my assets shortly. I wish they give at least Rs.1,000 crore to me. I shall utilise it for NTR Trust and Cancer Hospital.”
The TDP Polit Bureau member K. Yerrannaidu, MP Konakalla Narayana Rao, VR Siddhartha Academy president Vishnuvardhan and others were present.
