Dr. JP advocates proportional Representation
Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has said that the best and the brightest will not be able to enter politics so long as the first-past-the post electoral system prevails in India. As of now, people are voting for the second worst candidate in a bid to defeat the first worst candidate and not for those who will make a difference in their lives.
Addressing a gathering of NRIs in Chicago as part of his ‘Rejuvenate India through citizen-centric politics’ organized by People for Lok Satta, Dr. JP said that nowhere in the world candidates and political parties spent crores of rupees of personal money to get elected to the legislatures. It was because a vote more spelt victory and a vote less meant defeat. Only when the country switched over to a proportional representation system, the importance of marginal vote would go.
Dr. JP recalled that people often asked him why the Lok Satta had not made any electoral impact and said that he would plead guilty if they deemed his provision of an alternative, political platform or the promise of ethical and clean politics a crime or a sin.
Dr. JP maintained he was not concerned whether the Lok Satta won or lost. His only concern was that Team India should win. India had the resources and technologies to grow at a fast pace and become the second largest economy in the world by 2039, next only to China and overtaking the U. S.
He underlined the need for educational reforms under which every child irrespective of its accident of birth in a certain caste or community could realize its true potential. He pointed out that the education system in the public sector in India had collapsed. Unless we focus on quality education right from the primary stage, India will lag behind other countries just as it missed the industrial revolution.
Dr. JP paid rich tributes to NRIs in the U. S. who have demonstrated India’s intellectual prowess braving a hostile environment. He was also full of praise for the Indian Consulate in Chicago for its services and said there was no reason why Government offices in India could not function equally effectively.
Mr. Vijayanad, a software engineer who quit his job in the U. S. to take up social service, said that the Lok Satta has units in five States of India. He is the president of the Tamil Nadu unit.
Mr. Jampala Chowdary welcomed the gathering and introduced Dr. JP.