India News | Political Parties Be De-recognised for Not Fulfilling Poll Promises, Suggests BJP MP

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) BJP MP Gopal Chinayya Shetty on Friday suggested in the Lok Sabha that political parties that do not fulfil poll promises after being elected should be de-recognised.

Speaking on a private member Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2019, he had introduced earlier, Shetty said the Election Commission should come out with some guidelines on which promises could be made at the time of elections.

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"We need a serious discussion on the subject," the MP said.

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to change the conditions for recognising a national political party.

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"Political parties should be de-recognised for not fulfilling poll promises (after coming to power)," he said, adding the number of national political parties has increased to nine.

While asserting that there is a pressing need for electoral reforms in the country, Shetty observed that a time may come when people would begin exercising their franchise online.

Participating in the discussion, BJD MP B Mahtab took a dig at Shetty alleging "the mover of the bill has a hidden agenda" to end the multi-party system of the country. "Is it advisable?" he posed and wanted to know if the contents of the bill complied with the Constitution.

Mahtab said limiting the number of national political parties would choke the democratic system of the country and reminded the BJP that once it had just two members in the Lok Sabha.

"We have a multi-party system and under this if you put conditions, you are violating the decision of the Constitution makers," he said. "Do we benefit if national parties are limited to certain numbers?"

Although the Congress was the dominant political party earlier, it did not restrict the number of political parties. The power to elect political representatives should be left to the people, Mahtab said.

Supporting the bill, Manoj Kotak of the BJP said there should be some accountability for political parties.

Congress member A Khaleque claimed that if the Bill is passed it would end the multi-party system in the country and encourage dictatorship. He demanded an inquiry into the amount of money being spent by political parties and governments on advertisements as taxpayers' money is involved.

BSP MP Danish Ali said electoral bonds have become the biggest source of corruption in the elections.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)