NEW DELHI: Supporting the idea of non-political families to be a part of the political system, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi on Saturday said that he would not have become a Lok Sabha member had he not hailed from the Gandhi family.
Speaking for people’s Right to Recall their elected representatives if they fail to fulfill their duties, Gandhi said:
“I am Feroze Varun Gandhi. If my surname was not Gandhi, would I have become an MP at the age of 29? I want to see an India where it doesn’t matter if I am Varun Dutta or Varun Ghosh or Varun Khan. I want to see a nation where all are given equal rights, regardless of their names.”
During the event, the BJP MP also spoke on the importance of “right to recall” and other reforms to the current political structure.
“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.
In 2016, the MP from Sultanpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh had proposed an amendment in the Representation of the People Act 1951 through his Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill in the parliament, seeking for the right of common masses to remove their elected representatives within two years from being elected, if 75 percent of those who voted for them are not satisfied with their performance.
Backing the bill, Gandhi said, “Whether you see politics, films, cricket or business, it seems like all doors are closed for the common man.”
He further shared an example of farmers from Tamil Nadu protesting the widespread farmers’ suicide in the state, but were ignored by the state assembly.
“On my request, there was a full day session at the Tamil Nadu assembly, and they argued for a full day too, but for doubling the salary of MLAs,” Gandhi said.
Instead, poor people came to donate whatever they could for a campaign to rescue farmers from attempting suicide, the MP told.
He informed that Britain was successfully following this method where an elected representative can be held accountable in case people collectively move a petition and acquire over a lakh signatures in their support.
ANI inputs