Opinion Grey areas
We took over the reins of power from the British and adopted their system of parliamentary democracy which was based less on the rule-book than on tradition
We took over the reins of power from the British and adopted their system of parliamentary democracy which was based less on the rule-book than on tradition,convention and moral values (Failures in Bangalore,IE,October 13).
In time,our politicians championed the art of dodging the rule-book and throwing everything to the wind. The Karnataka trust-vote drama is one of the many instances that show how power-hungry chief ministers,on-sale legislators,aligned speakers,committed governors are collectively degrading and failing our democracy.
Revisiting the anti-defection law,state funding of elections,regulating the status of independent legislators supporting any government and appointment of politically inactive governors is the need of the hour.
M.C. Joshi
This refers to C.V. Madhukars Three questions from Bangalore and the editorial Failure in Bangalore (IE,October 13). The high court will rule on the disqualifications next week and so,right now,nobodys looking good. Such confusion has prevailed for decades and there are many grey areas in the Tenth Schedule. First,there should be some set rules for the appointment of governors. This post seems to be an ornamental one. Second,there should be strict rules to debar rebel members from political activity.
N. Mahadevan
The clever ones
The editorial Trial and error (IE,October 12) drew a true picture of the political jigsaw in Bihar. Parties coming together or drifting away from each other before and after elections is a common phenomenon.
Alliances and fronts are made and broken solely for winning elections and sharing power,not for ushering in good governance or any radical change. Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan were at loggerheads till the 2009 parliamentary elections; but they had got together to fight that election and are now together again in Bihars fray only for self- serving reasons. Likewise,the BJP and the JD(U) are setting their differences aside temporarily only to keep Lalu and company at bay. Acting cleverer than their masters,leaders like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh keep their options open.
Tarsem Singh
New Delhi
Highs and lows
Apropos the editorial Compulsion,rights (IE,October 12),in civic polls,a 40 to 50 per cent voter turnout should be considered satisfactory. In a democracy,abstaining from voting means the voter could make no choice of candidate. This should indicate to political parties to put up better candidates and improve the voting percentage. This will also help effective governance.
S.C. Vaid
Greater Noida
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