Press Releases Archive

Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash today lashed out TRS President K. Chandrasekhara Rao for unabashedly justifying dynastic politics. The Constitution, democracy and elections become meaningless if family rule is deemed as a birth right, Dr. JP fumed at a media conference.

Dr. JP called upon every father and mother and young boy and girl to reject with a vengeance those who seem to claim they have a divinely-ordained right to rule. Otherwise, they continue to be palanquin bearers of the ruling elite only.

Dr. JP said the malaise is not confined to Andhra Pradesh. As many as 167 members of the outgoing Lok Sabha owe their position to their political lineage.

Dr. JP said it is strange that when there are millions of youth with integrity, leadership qualities and passion to serve the country, politicians are trying to project their sons or daughters and brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law as their successors in politics

The other malady afflicting the Indian political scene is parties encouraging only those who have amassed billions of rupees either legally or illegally and who are prepared to buy their way into legislatures. The culture is spreading because political parties have become utterly selfish and arrogant and look down upon ordinary voters with contempt.

Dr. JP called upon political party members, people in general and youth in particular to fight such tendencies. People have already begun to hate political parties and politicians. If the rot is not arrested, anarchy will break out, he warned.

Dr. JP in this context referred to irregularities in the entrance examination for post-graduate medical admissions and demanded that the guilty be swiftly identified, jailed and their properties confiscated. There should be a fresh entrance examination if those who did not manipulate the ranks through malpractices cannot be declared passed. In the absence of sure and swift punishment, people will lose faith in all institutions holding examinations either for Government jobs or seats in educational institutions.

Dr. JP confirmed the Lok Satta party in is touch with the BJP and the TDP on electoral adjustments in the upcoming general elections. Asked how he could support a ‘divisive’ party like the BJP or join hands with the TDP which too is encouraging dynastic politics, Dr. JP said he had gone through a cruel dilemma before arriving at the decision. The country’s need of the hour is economic development, job creation and good governance. As the Lok Satta Party is not in a position to contest all the seats now for reasons beyond its control, it has to win at least a few seats to make its voice felt in national interest by aligning with those who are committed to development. The Lok Satta will walk out if any party pursues divisive politics. He welcomed movie star Pawan Kalyan entering politics to serve the nation. He said the Lok Satta could not envisage adjustments with Leftist parties which believe in Luddite politics.

Dr. JP utilized the occasion to drive home the point that he is instrumental in the launching of development works worth Rs.1573 crore in Kukatpally constituency, which he represents in the Assembly. While works worth Rs.956 crore have already been completed or in final stages, works worth Rs.617 crore are under way. He has helped improve drinking water supply in the constituency from 80 lakh gallons to 180 lakh gallons per day – an improvement of 125 percent which is not witnessed anywhere in the State.

Dr. JP said he had got works worth Rs.3.17 crore sanctioned/executed against the Rs.3 crore he had received as Constituency Development Fund in the last three years. Works costing Rs.1 crore, released recently for 2013-14, are being taken up now.

Lok Satta Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, D. V. V. S. Varma, Bandaru Ramamohan Rao and Y. D. Rama Rao took part in the media conference.

The Lok Satta Party is ready to consider “strategic alliances and tactical adjustments” with other parties without compromising on its core values. It rules out the Congress but names the Bharatiya Janata Party specifically as a potential partner.

Lok Satta’s own experience in Andhra Pradesh since its inception in 2006 and national imperatives call for such a strategy at the present juncture, its founder and national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan tells his party members in an open letter.

In the letter released to media today, Dr. JP dwells on the party’s performance in Andhra Pradesh and the lessons to be learnt from it.

“While public esteem for the Loksatta is very high in Andhra Pradesh, the perception that it might not be in a winning position is preventing support into votes; and votes from converting into seats. This is the primary reason for Loksatta's lack of electoral success. The best example is the relative performance of the MIM versus the Loksatta in Hyderabad city in the 2009 elections. While the total number of votes polled for MIM is roughly the same as that of Loksatta in the city, its votes translated into seven Assembly seats while the Loksatta managed to win only in one constituency.”

“Once a party voluntarily eschews money power, freebies and sectarian politics, the road to electoral success is thorny and steep. This is compounded by an electoral system that is hostile to new parties and honest ways and a hostile climate of primordial loyalties and caste equations.”

Against such a backdrop, “it is excruciatingly difficult to translate in the short-term our support base into a legislative mandate. A people plagued by the fear of wasted vote and potential leaders immobilized by the perception of winnability self-fulfil their prophecy”.

“In the interim, we should evolve strategies to persuade those voters who agree with us, but are voting for other parties because of fear of ‘wasted’ vote. And we need to trade our moderate, widespread voting base for concentrated pockets of voting that will give us legislative presence. Once electoral success is assured, many capable leaders, who can inspire confidence in voters, will be ready and willing to take the responsibility of playing a catalytic role for change at the constituency level.”

“It is this logic, backed by evidence that compels us to seriously consider strategic alliances and tactical adjustments without compromising our core values.”

Dr. JP says that for the Lok Satta wedded to all-round reforms and alleviating dire and soul crunching poverty, rampant exploitation and denial of human rights and creating opportunities for education, healthcare and employment, there is no alternative to working with others. There are no easy answers or quick fixes to our political and governance crisis.

“It is this recognition that led to the Loksatta working with both the NDA and the UPA over the years. It has never treated politicians and parties as untouchables. This political engagement drove the reform agenda of the country for over 15 years.”

Dr. JP recounts that the Lok Satta is largely instrumental in ushering in a number of electoral reforms. They include disclosure of candidates’ criminal antecedents, improvement in voter registration, political funding law, strengthening the anti-defection provisions and limiting the size of the Cabinet. It is again largely responsible for the Right to Information Act, and laws relating to constitution of the Lokpal, local courts and ensuring autonomy for cooperatives. Lok Satta’s proposals for laws on judicial standards and accountability, National Judicial Appointments Commission and service guarantee for citizens are in the pipeline.

Dr. JP points out that the Loksatta has amply demonstrated its capacity to provide intellectual leadership and work with all major political parties in proposing a win-win solution for all sides on the divisive issue of Telangana. “Indeed, the road map proposed by the Loksatta formed the sole basis for the amendments to the AP reorganization bill and was supported by both the Congress and the BJP.”

“Given the plurality of India and the compulsions of its electoral system, Loksatta has always believed that if reasonable standards are met in terms of political behaviour we should work with other parties to further a common agenda, viz, democratic reforms, public participation in politics and government, and improvements to quality of life and governance.”

Dr. JP recalls that the Lok Satta extended a hand to AAP as its first choice but it, being wedded to a monopolistic regime, spurned it.

Against such a backdrop, the Loksatta has to make a choice between the Congress and the BJP , the two middle- of-the-road parties based on four yardsticks -- pursuit of dynastic politics, dependence on money power, belief in freebie culture and promotion of sectarianism.

Dr. JP says, “While the Congress flunks miserably on all measures, the BJP passes muster on the first and third measure and to a lesser degree on the second.”

Referring to sectarianism, Dr. JP says that divisive and vote bank based politics exploit regressive social cleavages like caste, region, religion and language. “We should recognize that caste and region are as pernicious as religion in dividing people.”

Dr. JP argues, ”Our bounden duty as a political party is to moderate the extremes and enrich the agenda for growth and development. When a major party is actually departing from its sectarian and divisive communal agenda and changing its trajectory in making economic development as the vehicle in this election, the time is ripe to help deliver our vision for the country.”

“Any alliance will be on our terms, or not at all. We will not act desperate but we do reserve the right to negotiate….Indeed, if an alliance partner advocates politics of sectarianism and hatred, we will walk away and won't look back. We reserve the right to judge them on the basis of conduct and hold them accountable.”

“We have to decide on electoral alliances in the two States after deeply pondering over the future of Telugu people . It is not possible to align with parties steeped in corruption and those which are responsible for the crisis in the State. The Loksatta has unveiled a clear-cut agenda with focus on eradication of corruption, per capita grants to villages and wards in towns, provision of quality education and health care, measures to go to the aid of unorganized workers, ensuring remunerative price to the farmers, round-the-clock power supply, creation of livelihood opportunities in the manufacturing sector, women’s safety, restriction of liquor, allocation of resources for basic infrastructure in Hyderabad. We should be prepared to enter into alliances with local parties which are prepared to abide by our agenda.”

He recalls that even Gandhi collaborated with the Ali brothers and their Khilafat movement. “Is he judged by that radical dalliance or by the freedom he helped win? We live in a society, not Utopia. We are a work-in-progress nation at best and cannot afford zero sum games.”

“The Loksatta's call to action then, is to turn the least averse option into a good outcome for the nation, not stand by and watch the years fritter away for the citizens of India. It is widely accepted in all mature democracies, that a programmatic pre-poll alliance or electoral adjustment is ethical and will be validated by a people's mandate as opposed to a post poll tie- up, which could be viewed as unethical and opportunistic and will be perceived as lacking the mandate of the public.”

Dr. JP adds, “At this point of time though, the Loksatta is not sure if other parties will agree to the framework that is proposed above. As a responsible political party, we owe it to the public to explore the potential for such an alliance or adjustment and the exercise must be performed in a sincere and honest manner.”