Initiate movement for MPs to forego salaries: Varun Gandhi to LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan

Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi expressed concern over the widening inequality in the country, saying it was “detrimental” to democracy.

Five months after he questioned Parliamentarians’ powers to increase their own salaries, BJP MP Varun Gandhi has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to initiate a movement to prompt economically advantaged members to forego their remuneration in the wake of widening inequality gap in the country.

Varun, MP from UP’s Sultanpur, suggested that the Speaker could “introduce a fresh narrative focused on an alternative strategy rather than the current practice of arrogating of salaries at will to ourselves” if relinquishing salary is “too much to ask for”. Pointing out that the number of MPs who own assets worth over a crore has seen a sharp rise from 319 in 2009 to 449 in the 16th Lok Sabha, he wrote: “While I realize that not all MPs enjoy higher economic positions and some depend on salary for their livelihood, my request to you Madam Speaker is to initiate a movement, aimed at the economically advantaged MPs, to forego our remuneration for the remainder of this 16th Lok Sabha.”

He said such a voluntary exercise “would send a positive message across the nation regarding the level of sensitivity that we possess as elected representatives.” The Sultanpur MP expressed concern over the widening inequality in the country, saying it was “detrimental” to democracy. “India’s inequality gap is widening further every day. A growing divide is detrimental to our democracy and we as public representatives must be seen to be more responsive to the socio-economic realities of our country,” he said in the letter.

The remuneration of an MP includes a basic salary of Rs 50,000 per month, Rs 45,000 as constituency allowance, among other allowances. The government spends roughly Rs 2.7 lakh per MP per month, he said in the letter. Over the last decade, salaries of parliamentarians have increased by 400 per cent, a rise that is unlikely even in the profit-driven private sector, he added.