Date:29/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/29/stories/2007122961270400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Law needed to regulate formation of political parties’

Staff Reporter

Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

SHARING A POINT: Chairman of ISEC S.L. Rao and the former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah (right) at a public lecture on ’Indian Democracy at Crossroads’ in Bangalore on Friday. —

Bangalore: India needs a comprehensive law that regulates the formation of political parties, ensures their internal democracy, periodic elections, transparency and accountability, said M.N. Venkatachalaiah, former Chief Justice of India, here on Friday. Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Mr. Venkatachalaiah said that the registrar of political parties should be the Chief Election Commissioner himself. He also said that “inaccuracies” in the representative character of Parliament needed to be addressed. “As many as 68 per cent of the members of Parliament have been elected by a minority vote, and this is a serious inadequacy,” he said.

Delivering a lecture on “Indian democracy at crossroads: the role of political parties in inclusive governance,’ Satyanarayana Sangita, professor and head of the Centre for Political Institutions, governance and Development, ISEC, said that strong party institutions were vital for long-term stability and healthy functioning of a democracy, in channelising societal demands and in defining public policy alternatives. Prof. Sangita added that internal party democracy and a commitment to programmes formed the cornerstone of a stable government, in keeping corruption and conflicts in check while promoting growth and social development.

‘Inaccuracies” in the representative character of Parliament need to be addressed’