L.K. Advani on the eve of Jan Chetna Yatra

Press : Chairman, BJP Parliamentary Party Shri L.K. Advani on the eve of Jan Chetna Yatra

Monday, 10 October 2011

Press Statement issued by Chairman, BJP Parliamentary Party Shri L.K. Advani at
New Delhi on the eve of Jan Chetna Yatra on 10.10.2011.

Tomorrow, I start the Jan Chetna Yatra. I shall be travelling across the country in order to educate and mobilize public opinion on the issues of honest politics and good governance.

The mood in India today is one of anger about the quality of politics and the governance.  This anger has arisen on account of the inadequacy of leadership provided by the Central Govt. and the complete decline of ethical politics pursued by the UPA.  This has resulted in a general environment of cynicism affecting the credibility of India’s Parliamentary democracy and the politicians who man it.  As one who has seen and participated actively in all general elections in India and having campaigned on several issues, my forthcoming yatra is intended to campaign on the issues of honest politics and good governance and convert the cynicism into enthusiastic nation building.

I believe that the best for India is yet to come.  Our national potential has remained underutilized.  The Indian society plagued by unsatisfactory politics and governance has not been able to utilize its full potential.  Corruption today is adversely impacting our economy.  The investment climate in the country has been disturbed.  Time has come to raise the bar of accountability so that the systems which are so created act as a deterrent against the corrupt.

Civil Society Organizations in recent times have rendered a great national service by campaigning on the issue of probity.  However, it is the political parties which are the essence and the strength of Parliamentary democracy.  Therefore, I have decided to undertake this Yatra so that politics instead of being discredited should become inspirational for many people who should be attracted to join it.  The best must now get attracted into politics since politics is the most important instrument of decision-making, governance and nation building.

Tackling Corruption

The efforts in the Yatra shall be to campaign pre-dominantly on the issue of corruption.  We must be able to channelize this public anger into a constructive direction and lead to positive solutions.  My party and I stand committed to the creation of an effective Lokpal.  This should be an independent agency appointed by an independent mechanism and empowered to penalize corruption across the country.  The NDA-State Governments have been in the forefront of legislating a law which provides for a citizens charter that makes it mandatory to render public service efficiently and effectively.  Public servants are to be penalized in the event of the default.  Similarly, it is the NDA Governments which have effectively legislated laws relating to confiscation of assets acquired out of corruption.  We believe that no one is entitled to retain the profits of crime. Special courts have been set up in several NDA States to confiscate the assets acquired through acts of corruption.  By this Yatra, we campaign for getting these major steps being replicated at the national level.  We need to ensure that tenders beyond a certain threshold level are subject to mandatory e-tendering.  We need to eliminate discretions and replace them with objectivity in the matter of allotment of governmental largesse.

JUDICIARY

Judicial reforms are the need of the hour. Judiciary in many cases is the ultimate arbiter of State and public action.  The quality of judiciary must remain uncompromising.  You need men of integrity, stature and quality to enter judiciary institutions.  Judicial reforms must thus be aimed at judicial efficiency, elimination of arrears, and the need to appoint men of the highest level of integrity.  In recent years, disturbing information have appeared in relation to some in the judicial institutions.  The bar of accountability has to be raised.  We have proposed a National Judicial Commission which shall deal with appointment of Judges to the higher judiciary and dealing with cases of complaints against Judges.  The Yatra will endeavor to campaign on this issue.

ELECTORAL REFORMS

In the recent past, constitutional amendments have restricted the size of the Council of Ministers in the State.  Defections have been substantially reduced.  The Election Commission has done well to tackle the menace of booth capturing.  However, criminalization of politics and the use of excessive money power in elections still ails our political system.  These two challenges adversely impact the credibility of politics.  Therefore, the need for taking steps in this direction is imminent.  The Yatra will effectively campaign on this issue.

BLACK MONEY

Our revenue and penal laws have been too liberal in tackling the black money.  Black money is present both domestically in land and trade transactions as also stashed in tax havens.  The Govt. of India has been extremely slow in trying to eliminate this menace whereas several countries have been able to pressurize tax havens into making concessions with regard to disclosure of black money.  The Govt. of India has not taken any pro-active steps in this direction.  Estimates about the quantum of black money held in foreign bank accounts vary but the amount is believed to be huge.  The Yatra will actively campaign to pressurize the Govt. to take effective steps to bring back the black money so that it can be used for building national assets.  The names of those holding accounts in tax havens abroad and Swiss Banks should be publicly disclosed.  I have reason to believe that recently disclosures have been made to the Govt. of India with regard to accounts held by Indians in one of the leading Swiss banks. I understand that the Income-tax Department has been asked to quietly deal with this issue and put a lid on the whole matter.  The facts have been held back even from the Enforcement Directorate.  I demand to know whether it is factually correct that the details of the accounts held in one of the Swiss banks have already been provided to the Govt. of India because of the disclosures made by a whistle blower and the names are not being made public to save embarrassment on account of a few selected individuals.

(O.P. KOHLI)
Headquarter Incharge