Letters: Upper House check

That Venkaiah Naidu would be elected vice-president was a foregone conclusion. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would want its own man as chairman of the Rajya Sabha, particularly as it does not yet have a majority there. But the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) missed a good tactic in the presidential elections. The NDA had the numbers. But the UPA could have announced that if the NDA chose a non-political nominee who has never been a member of any party or even a legislator as Independent, it would support the candidate so that there is unanimous election of the President. That would have put the NDA on the back foot (like the UPA was in 2002 when APJ Abdul Kalam was fielded) and caused considerable thinking to thwart the suggestion and even convince the people why it refused.

 

A neutral president would be better for the UPA in 2019. Now the spotlight is on Rajya Sabha majority. It would be in the interest of the country and its people not to give the NDA a majority in the Rajya Sabha, as then it would then have too free a hand. The government must be given the task of convincing at least a section of the opposition in the Upper House to get legislations through. That would make it less belligerent and make it necessary for house management strategies and lower political temperatures. In the given scenario, while a government must be given a majority in the Lok Sabha so that we don’t see umpteen no confidence motions, it must be denied a majority in the Upper House to prevent any runaway policies and agendas.

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T R Ramaswami   Mumbai

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