Terming the September 13 by-election to the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat an “immoral” and wasteful exercise, Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, on Monday called for electoral reforms to prohibit candidates from contesting two seats in one election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi won both Vadodara and Varanasi seats in the Lok Sabha election and chose to vacate the former.
“This by-election is immoral necessitated only because of the ego of one person [Mr. Modi]. It has been forced on the electorate. This is a betrayal of the massive mandate that the people gave him. It is high time that reforms were carried out and candidates allowed to contest only one seat,” Mr. Gandhi told The Hindu .
Mr. Gandhi was in Vadodara on Sunday to lend his support to the Congress candidate Narendra Rawat in the by-election. Ranjanben Bhatt, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, is his immediate rival.
“Mr. Rawat is a long-time friend and it does not matter what his chances are,” he said.
