By IANS,
New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said Saturday that people were exasperated with the prevailing situation in Indian public life and the responsibility to retain its credibility rests with the country’s political leaders.
Jaitley’s comments came on a day social activist Anna Hazare ended his fast for a stronger Lokpal Bill after government agreed to his demand for a joint drafting committee which will have representation from civil society as well.
Speaking on “Internal security and inclusive growth” at the valedictory session of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) national conference, he made an indirect reference to Hazare’s fast and the support it evoked.
“People are exasperated with the kind of situation in India’s public life…To retain its credibility, the responsibility rests on shoulders of each one of us,” said Jaitley, who is Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
He said the country cannot afford a situation where people lose faith in parliamentary democracy.
Stressing the need for maintaining integrity of parliamentary democracy, Jaitley said that it was based on party system which was made of individuals. He said people in politics have power but the stature of people entering public life in the country does not measure up to the demands made on them “due to factors like caste and dynastic politics”.
Terming corruption was a great disincentive to investment and dented India’s image, Jaitley said the system of political funding in the country had its flaws.
Citing the slogan “mera neta chor hai (my leader is a thief)” used by some people during the anti-corruption agitation, Jaitley said people had high hopes from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but his failure to enforce discipline led to “this angry reaction from the average Indian”.
Identifying separatism in Kashmir, Maoist violence and insurgency in some parts of northeast as internal security challenges faced by the country, he said the government’s roadmap for Jammu and Kashmir adopted six decades ago was erroneous.
Jaitley said 210 districts in the country had Maoist presence and there was a hue and cry when concerted efforts were made to deal with them. He alleged Home Minister P. Chidambaram had changed his initial policies on tackling Maoist threat after dissenting noises from within his own party.
Answering queries from the gathering, Jaitley said he did not foresee a two-party system in the country in the near future due to size and diversity of the country.
“What will happen is maturing of two principal coalitions,” he said, referring to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Justifying obstruction as a parliamentary tactic in certain situations, he said A. Raja would still have been communications minister had the opposition not forced repeated adjournments of parliament.
Jaitley also said he was not in favour of presidential form of government in the country as it will lead to too much concentration of power in an individual.