Guwahati: BJP Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi
today said that people must have the right to recall their
elected representatives if they fail to deliver.
The MP from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh also advocated
that people from non-political families should come into
politics on the basis of talent and not on issues such as
caste and religion.
"Winning an election is not enough... People must have
the right to recall and I introduced this bill (a private
member's bill) in Parliament as a step to ensure that people,
if not satisfied with their representatives, can get them
removed," he said.
This could be done by the means of petition system, the
BJP leader said.
In Britain, the electorate could collectively petition
the government and if over a lakh signatures were there, a
discussion could be initiated in parliament ensuring
accountability of an elected representatives, Gandhi said at a
programme here.
He said zila parishad elections were held in his
constituency recently and he ensured that talented people were
given an opportunity to contest and most of them won.
He that had he not been a 'Gandhi', it would not have
possible for him to become a Lok Sabha member at an early age
of 29.
This kind of a culture was also prevalent in other
fields like business, cricket and films and it must end,
Gandhi said.
"We must strive to ensure that a composite concept of
Hindustan is evolved where all would enjoy the fruits of
equality and opportunity," he said.
He said that he was against frequent increase in salary
of MPs which was done by the MPs themselves.
At least, the MPs should not increase their salary
themselves, he said.
Gandhi said he does not take his salary as an MP and
has asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to give it to some NGO or a
person in need of money.
He said there should be citizens' intervention in
government schemes and constant monitoring was needed to
ensure accountability and transparency which would
automatically bring down corruption.
