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Journalism of Courage
BANGALORE, Aug 3: Lok Shakthi founder and Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde on Monday reiterated that the presidential form of government would be the only alternative to provide a stable government at the Centre under the present circumstances.
In his address read out in absentia at a seminar on ‘‘Regional parties — stable Union Government organised by a voluntary organisation — Sneha Chintana — here, Hegde asserted that there was a need to have a nationwide debate on the issue as all the national political parties and coalition governments failed to ensure a stable government at the Centre.
‘‘We have to admit that both single party and coalition governments will not be beneficial to the country, he said stating that politics should not interfere when the government was working for the welfare of the people. It should not be in the grip of an individual or a group, he added.
About the growth of regional parties, he said people favoured them as they were fed up with the national parties. Butthe regional parties failed to deliver the goods as they also had ambitious and untrustworthy people in them.
Referring to the pressures being exerted by various coalition partners on the Bharatiya Janata party-led government at the Centre, Hegde observed that political parties were trying to get the lions share from the Union Government.
He said that they shamelessly resorted to pressure tactics. How could a government last its full term in such a situation, he asked.
Hegde said though seven parties had been identified by the election commission as national parties, none of them truly represented all the states. Communist parties, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal, and Samata party were active only in some regions. Though the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata party were national parties, the former was losing its base in many states and the latter was yet to establish its roots in many states, Hegde added.
Lok Shakthi leader Pramod Hegde underlined the need for decentralisation of power as the countryhad different cultures. He opined that the failure on the part of national parties in decentralising power led to the creation of regional parties.
