Thursday, December 8, 2011

Mine is a vote against Congress and TDP, asserts Dr.JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today clarified that he had exercised the vote to reject both the ruling party and the Opposition in the no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government in the Assembly.

Addressing media on the occasion of the party headquarters moving to Banajara Hills from Adarsh Nagar, Dr.JP said that although many appreciated the stand he took in the Assembly, a few raised certain doubts.

"I am not an Independent candidate in the Assembly but represent the Lok Satta Party. Our party ideology is totally different from that of the ruling party and the Opposition. We believe that both of them are power-oriented and steeped in corruption. Both of them have emasculated local governments and centralized power. Both of them treat the poor as vote banks and are not serious about poverty eradication. Both of them are guilty of ruining agriculture and the rural economy, despite their claim to speak on behalf of farmers. They have not focused on either quality health care or education. Both are guilty of cynical opportunism in that they have stoked regional fires for temporary political gains. You do not expect the Lok Satta Party, which has a clear cut ideology and program, to connive with them by joining either combine.

"When a party obtained a clear mandate to govern, it should ordinarily serve the full term. A no-confidence motion should be a serious step, based on sound reasoning and aimed at protecting overwhelming public interest. It cannot be a tactical numbers game to merely change the players. If the elected Government were to be brought down, there should be a coherent and viable alternative with majority support which has the ability to govern. These conditions of constructive no-confidence are not fulfilled in the present case.

"After deep thinking, the party has decided to utilize the opportunity provided by the no-trust motion to explain its policies without getting entangled in the numbers game of the ruling and Opposition parties. The Lok Satta movement had proposed almost 14 years ago that the people should be given the right to reject all the candidates in the field in an election. I exercised such a rejection vote in the Assembly."

In reply to questions, Dr.JP said that going by media reports the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on the Lok Pal Bill are in tune with the Lok Satta Party stand to the extent of 90 percent.

He wanted the Government to execute the Polavaram project without further delay. Diversion of the Godavari water to the Krishna basin will facilitate utilization of the Nagarjunasagar water for irrigating lands in Telangana and Rayalaseema. He also demanded that the Hyderabad's drinking water needs be met from Nagarjunasagar. There is no justification for drawing Godavari water from Yellmapalli since it is costly and time consuming, and deprives Telangana districts of water for irrigation.

He said that the Lok Satta Party totally supported the emergence of retail chains in the interests of farmers and consumers since they eliminate intermediaries. The color of the cat does not matter so long as it catches mice, he said to underline that it does not matter whether the chains are floated by foreigners or Indians.

He said that the move to reduce the number of tiers from five to three in panchayat raj is welcome but what is more important is devolution of powers and resources on local governments.

On the proposed communal violence Bill, he said the Government has to protect minorities irrespective of their religion and caste, region and language. In the process, care must be taken to ensure that the federal system in the country is not harmed.

Cutting of a ribbon, hoisting of the national and party flags, garlanding of he portraits of Ambedkar and Gandhi and blessings by priests belonging to Hindu, Christian and Muslim religions marked the inauguration of the party headquarters.

15 comments:

  1. Dr. JP,

    Two questions remain:

    1. Why did you change your stand? There were reports days before the vote and in Loksatta Times that you will support the no-confidence motion.

    2. The question remains as to what the no-confidence all about. It is not whether TDP or Congress is right but whether you believe the govt can fulfill its responsibilities and govern to solve people's problems. It is not clear what your answer is. You are either confident or you are not. The philosophy behind the no-confidence motion is to respond according to the ground facts, and realities. Telangana and agrarian crisis are two biggest areas where the govt has failed miserably.

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  2. I wud like to make it clear, this is not change of stand
    Jp clearly stated he wud support no confidence motion if it is in the interest of public (refer eenadu dated dec 5)

    When other parties made it a number game, y shud lsp support either of them.....
    Constitution has given the right to reject NCM nd Jp has made the best use of it

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  3. Mr. Suresh, Issue based voting is different ball game. But No confidence motion means you need clear viable alternative to govern which did not exist...

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  4. inka ee JP nammutunnaru janaalu gorrellaaga..

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  5. Yes, memu jp ni nammuthunnam coz he is selfless and he has the best vision to develop the country........ Suggest sumother who cn do better than Jp, Im ready to follow him. No problm even if its U.

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  6. I love JP and am a follower (and a member). But this is a political blunder. Neutral stand does not translate well in the ground.

    JP continues to make political mistakes just like he is doing in Kukatpally by not being available to the people.

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  7. I cannot understand why do you need Dr.JP for each and every small thing. If you have any issues with Kukatpally, please contact Lok satta Kukatpally office or Sri Sambireddy. You can get the contact details from www.kukatpallynow.com. They would solve the problems. If the problem is big and requires Dr.JP, then they would contact him and get it done.

    If you are expecting Dr.JP for each and every thing, nothing gets done. One person can never solve all the problems of the constituency.

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  8. JP ni nammetollaara ..JP enduku kukatpally ni only chose chesukunnado cheppagalaraa out of 294 ..nenu adigina ee question ni i was pushed away by Katari srinivas..

    dile cheppundri why kukatpally why not anyother place ..so he has come selfish calculations..on that i lost respect to J.P before that i was die hard follower .

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  9. Krishna,

    Again - its not my concern. I understand it and will always support JP. Am talking from the psychology of the common man. Our common people expect the MLA to be available at all times (even for small tasks) and sometimes we have to be receptive to that. They did not vote for Sambireddy, they voted for JP.

    The other person who is asking why JP chose Kukatpally - because Indian Constitution gives you the freedom to stand anywhere. If your real intention is you think because of many kammas there, it was proven wrong in many other forums. There are only 5% kammas there. Am a member of LSP - rest assured that in the internal discussions, the topic of caste never comes up. I wouldn't stick around as a member if that were the case.

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  10. Instead of worrying about the agriculture issues in the state and fighting with the government,
    Instead of worrying about the societies acts and fighting in the courts opposing the government,
    Instead of worrying about the lokpal bill and presenting his opinions to the parliamentary committee,

    If Dr.JP decides to worry about the drainage, garbage or street lights in Kukatpally, I would not support him or Lok Satta.

    I would prefer to have a leader, who would use his/her complete power in developing the entire country. If the leader has so much power, but, sticks to only very limited area and uses very less powers for the people, then probably, he/she would be better suited in philosophy and may be an ideal example of a monk. But, never in politics or business.

    If everyone in the state wants their MLAs and MPs to work for their local issues, then there won't be anybody to worry about the state issues or country issues.

    If Dr.JP spends more effort to solve their local problems, so that he can win in the next elections, then his whole life would be spent in that only, and there will never be any end.

    I believe, and I feel Lok Satta also believes that, the actual change that we need to bring is, make people aware that, their vote can change their life, and only their vote can change their life. Winning in the elections is never a primary.

    If Kukatpally people think that, there is somebody else who can better serve them, let them elect them instead of Dr.JP. I don't have any issues and I strongly feel that, even Dr.JP does not have any issues on that.

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  11. JP has been doing great service to the state inside and outside Assembly. I disagree with the neutral vote but my vote does not depend on one factor alone. Those who complain about JP not accessible in Kukatpally, why don't they compare his accessibility with other MLAs and work they got done in other constituencies? At least, we know what JP has been doing every day, we don't know what other party leaders, MLAs are doing most of the time. Let us apply some yardsticks and decide who is the best among them.

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  12. Neutral stand is appropriate. Opposition is as useless as ruling party. This No confidence is put up by Mr. Naidu and Jagan for power and this is no use for common man.

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  13. After seeing his stance in the no-confidence motion, I lost my complete faith in JP. I was so pissed that I even unsubscribed from lok-satta news letters. I will still respect you for your statesmanship but I don't think you are anywhere close to being a leader.

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  14. Vijay,

    Just because he made one mistake, it does not mean you have to disown him completely. As long as he does not compromise on core principles (he never has and as far as I know, he never will), we should continue to support him.

    But I agree with you that this was a total and unqualified political mistake.

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  15. Lokasatta Campaigns when voter doesn't want to vote for any candidate make to vote unusable. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/1259324

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