प्रणब मुखर्जी बोले- लोकसभा की सीटें बढ़ाकर 1000 कर देनी चाहिए

पूर्व राष्ट्रपति प्रणब मुखर्जी ने इंडिया फाउंडेशन द्वारा आयोजित द्वितीय अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी स्मृति व्याख्यान देते हुए कहा कि लोकसभा में सदस्यों की संख्या बढ़ा कर एक हजार कर दिया जाना चाहिए. जानें क्या कुछ कहा प्रणब मुखर्जी ने.

प्रणब मुखर्जी

Published : Dec 16, 2019, 11:56 PM IST

Updated : Dec 17, 2019, 10:09 AM IST

नई दिल्ली : पूर्व राष्ट्रपति प्रणब मुखर्जी ने लोकसभा की सीटें 543 से बढ़ा कर एक हजार करने और राज्यसभा की सीटें भी बढ़ाने की पैरवी की.

मुखर्जी ने इसके पीछे यह दलील दी कि भारत में निर्वाचित जन प्रतिनिधियों के लिए मतदाताओं की संख्या आनुपातिक रूप से बहुत ज्यादा है.

इंडिया फाउंडेशन द्वारा आयोजित द्वितीय अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी स्मृति व्याख्यान देते हुए उन्होंने सत्तारूढ़ दलों को बहुसंख्यकवाद के खिलाफ आगाह किया. उन्होंने कहा कि लोगों ने उन्हें संख्यात्मक बहुमत दिया होगा, लेकिन अधिकतम मतदाताओं ने कभी किसी एक पार्टी को समर्थन नहीं दिया.

उन्होंने लोकसभा और विधानसभा चुनाव एक साथ कराए जाने पर अपना संदेह भी जताया. उन्होंने कहा कि यह संवैधानिक संशोधनों के बाद किया जा सकता है लेकिन इसकी कोई गारंटी नहीं है कि निर्वाचित सदस्य भविष्य में किसी सरकार पर भरोसा नहीं खोएंगे.

पूर्व राष्ट्रपति ने कहा कि लोकसभा की क्षमता को 1977 में संशोधित किया गया था जो 1971 की जनगणना के आधार पर किया गया था और उस वक्त देश की आबादी 55 करोड़ थी.

उन्होंने कहा कि आबादी तब से दोगुने से ज्यादा बढ़ गई है और परिसीमन पर लगी रोक को हटाने के लिए यह मजबूत दलील है.

उन्होंने कहा कि आदर्श रूप से इसे (लोकसभा में सदस्यों की संख्या) बढ़ा कर एक हजाहर कर दिया जाना चाहिए.

इंडियन फाउंडेशन की ओर से आयोजित व्याख्यान में मुखर्जी ने वाजपेयी की आम सहमति बनाने वाले नेता के तौर पर तारीफ की.

मुखर्जी ने कहा कि वाजपेयी ने सबको साथ लेकर काम किया.

ये भी पढ़ें-प्रणब मुखर्जी ने कहा- पिछली सरकारों के कारण भारत बनेगा 5 ट्रिलियन डॉलर की अर्थव्यवस्था

उन्होंने कहा कि 1952 से लोगों ने अलग अलग पार्टियों को मजबूत जनादेश दिया है लेकिन कभी भी एक पार्टी को 50 फीसदी से ज्यादा वोट नहीं दिए हैं.

पूर्व राष्ट्रपति ने कहा, 'चुनावों में बहुमत आपको एक स्थिर सरकार बनाने का अधिकार देता है.'

मुखर्जी ने कहा कि वाजपेयी ने सबको साथ लेकर काम किया.

ZCZC
PRI GEN NAT
.NEWDELHI DEL253
PRANAB-LD PARLIAMENT (RPT)
Pranab bats for raising LS strength to 1,000, cautions against majoritarianism
(Eds: Adding details)
New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Former president Pranab Mukherjee on Monday pitched for raising the number of Lok Sabha seats to 1,000 from the existing 543 and for a corresponding increase in Rajya Sabha's strength, arguing that India has a "disproportionately large size" of electorate for elected representatives.
Delivering the second Atal Vihari Vajpayee memorial lecture organised by India Foundation here, he also cautioned parties in power against "majoritarianism" and stressed on the need for carrying everyone along.
He said people may have given some party a numerical majority, but a majority of voters has never supported one party in India's electoral history.
"This message of the Indian electorate has never been clearly understood by political players. That is why we think we can do anything and everything when we have an overwhelming majority in the legislature. But that should not be the case," he said, asserting that people have often punished such incumbents in the past.
"A numerical majority in elections gives you the right to make a stable government. The lack of popular majority forbids you from a majoritarian government. That is the message and essence of our parliamentary democracy," he said.
Mukherjee also voiced his misgivings over the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls, something Prime Minister Narendra Modi has strongly pushed for, as he said it may be done one time through constitutional amendments but there is no guarantee that elected members will not express their lack of confidence in a government in the future.
In a nearly hour-long speech, the veteran parliamentarian strongly argued for lifting the freeze on the numbers of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The last time the strength of Lok Sabha was revised was in 1977 which, he noted, was based on the 1971 census that put the total population at 55 crore.
The population since then has more than doubled, and there is a "strong case" to remove the freeze in the delimitation exercise. It should be ideally increased to 1,000, he added.
Noting that 16-18 lakh people are represented by one Lok Sabha member, he wondered how he or she be expected to be in touch with the electors.
"We need to think innovatively and not just resort to excuses without any basis. If the British Parliament can have 650 members, the Canadian Parliament can have 443 members and the US Congress can accommodate 535 members, why can't the Indian Parliament do so," Mukherjee asked.
Speaking on the topic "Has parliamentary democracy succeeded in India and the challenges ahead", the former president, who served between 2012-17, also questioned the rationale behind a new Parliament building, a demand that has come from many quarters.
"I seriously wonder, how a new Parliament building is going to help or improve the working of the parliamentary system in India," he said.
If the strength of Lok Sabha is increased to 1,000, then the Central Hall can be converted into the Lower House and Rajya Sabha can be shifted to the current Lok Sabha, he added.
He cited the lack of adequate woman representatives in Parliament as one of the "shortcomings".
Mukherjee also called for dealing with disruptions in Parliament "firmly" by Ethics Committee, saying MPs who do not respect the sanctity of the legislature should be acted against.
Remembering Vajpayee, the first BJP prime minister, Mukherjee hailed him as a consensus-builder who worked to take everyone along.
"Atalji was a great son of India. Although we worked in ideologically opposite pillars of the polity, his innate qualities as an orator, as a moderator and as a consensus seeker in both his roles as an opposition leader and later as prime
minister impressed me greatly," he said.
"I have no hesitation in saying that he was an inheritor and practitioner of the best traditions and qualities of leadership that India can be proud of," he said. PTI KR AAR
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Last Updated : Dec 17, 2019, 10:09 AM IST

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