Secret Ballot

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To prevent horse-trading of MPs and party-bossism in the present peculiar circumstances, the President should move a step ahead of recent Supreme Court judgement in Kalyan Singh case by arranging for the new Prime Minister to be chosen by secret preferential ballot of Lok Sabha members. The person who gets an absolute majority should be made Prime Minister. The defeated person in the last round can be named the leader of the Opposition.

Such an elected Prime Minister may be free to select his/her team of ministers from any party without asking parties to name their nominees in the ministry.

The Prime Minister heading such a new-styled national government should give due importance to the views of the MPs belonging to all the parties for the smooth running of the government. The size of the ministry can be fixed according to the total strength of the Lok Sabha.

Since various experiments including those of coalition governments seem to have failed in India, it is better if we strive for a new era of a consensus government. Since the Supreme Court in recent Kalyan Singh case is said to have already crossed the fixed constitutional norms, the President can, in consultation with the Chief Justice, try out such a formula in the larger interest of the nation.