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This is an archive article published on February 28, 1998

Amend constitution: Mahajan

February 27: Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan today called for amendments in the constitution to avoid political inst...

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February 27: Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan today called for amendments in the constitution to avoid political instability and said that elected Lok Sabha should have the right to elect the prime minister.

Addressing a press conference, Mahajan said that the PM should be elected by the MPs by a simple majority and should be able to remove him with a two-thirds majority. He said, “The Lok Sabha, if it passes a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, should also take up the responsibility of electing a new PM instead of burdening the country with elections.” He felt that a debate should start in earnest on this issue adding that no government should be dissolved within five years.

“A hung parliament is never created by political parties but by the people who give a fractured mandate,” Mahajan said. However, this time, it will be a decisive mandate and the BJP will get absolute majority, he added. He added that the party would not refuse to form the government if thePresident calls the BJP the single largest party since all other parties have failed in this duty in the last 18 months.

Reacting to the reported Sonia wave, he said, “Sonia is like the release of a new film. The first show is bound to be packed. Vajpayee has completed 50 years in politics and still gets more crowd.” He added that Sonia was the last bullet in the armoury of the Congress. On his Congress opponent Gurudas Kamat resorting to a hunger strike demanding that Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde should not be allowed to enter his constituency, Mahajan said, “I am ready to issue a joint statement with Kamat to hand over the responsibility of law and order to any agency Kamat wants.”

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