BJP and CPM have desired that the country’s Prime Minister should be only from Lok Sabha, evidently with an eye on Congress’s Prime Ministerial candidate Dr Manmohan Singh who is member of Rajya Sabha.
Keeping in view the present self-centred politics, it will be most appropriate that Prime Minister/Chief Ministers and other ministers should be non-members having contested no election in past say one year. This will make MPs and MLAs king-makers to serve as real watchdog on performance of such appointed ministers (and PM/CMs) rather than lobbying for themselves to occupy lucrative power-filled ministerial chairs. Persons desirous of ministerial posts need not contest elections at all. This system will make elected representatives easily approachable to people. Present security considerations of ministers are hindrance in their easy interaction with their voters. Such a system will induce experts rather than professional politicians to serve as ministers for much-much better governance, apart from sharp reduction in expenses needed to employ experts as advisors. It will also be easy to restrict ministerial strength to 10 per cent strength of Lower House as per original recommendations of ARC.
In fact, the task of an MP or MLA is in itself so vast that every post held by them including even in private or party organisations should be considered ‘office of profit’ so that they may fully concentrate on their job as Parliamentarians or state legislators.
Madhu Agrawal
Delhi