Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said here on Friday that he was not in favour of the right to recall elected representatives, as it would lead to “a perpetual instability” in a huge country like India.
The right to recall is one of the demands that members of ‘Team Anna' has been pushing for, expanding the ambit of their anti-corruption campaign.
Mr. Advani also reiterated that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was “the weakest Prime Minister” he had seen. He was responding to Dr. Singh's remarks that such “harsh words” (the criticisms being made by Mr. Advani during the course of his Jan Chetna Yatra) should not be used in politics.
The BJP leader said that he was merely “calling a spade a spade.”
Mr. Advani, who was in the city as a part of his yatra, told journalists: “Frankly, there was a time when I was in favour [of the right to recall]…. But I have observed that the right to recall has not been accepted by any country except a few small ones, where it may have been possible to implement it, but not in a huge country like India, where it could lead to a perpetual instability.”
He, however, favoured electoral reforms, an issue that his party has been pursuing since the 1970s.
“I am in favour of electoral reform and particularly in respect of the growing influence of money power in elections. Money power and elections is a matter of great concern and I would like the government to pursue it and discuss it. The Election Commission has made a few proposals, let them be discussed,” said Mr. Advani, who is also the Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party.
Asked whether he anticipated that the general elections would be held ahead of schedule, Mr. Advani said that the functioning of the Congress-led government at the Centre had landed the country in “an uncertain situation.”
“Neither they [the Congress] nor anyone else can be certain whether elections will be held in 2014 or earlier,” he said, adding that the “uncertain situation” had also “paralysed” the government's decision-making process.
Mr. Advani said the government at the Centre appeared to be “exhibiting symptoms of terminal decline” and “multi-organ failure.”
“This kind of disarray within the UPA is responsible for its vacillation and prevarication on a very crucial issue which affects Andhra Pradesh — that is Telangana. There is a continuing stand-off between the government and the people of the region. Telangana has been on strike for 35 days now, yet the Union government, which had announced in Parliament its decision to create a separate State, suddenly went back its word.” he said.
Asked about the recent controversy surrounding key member of Team Anna Kiran Bedi inflating her travelling expenses, Mr. Advani declined to comment.
