In the elections a numerical majority only gives a political party the right to form a “stable” government and not a “majoritarian” one, he said
New Delhi: On Monday Former President Pranab Mukherjee cautioned against a “majoritarian government” against the backdrop of pan-India agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA).
Mukherjee also appreciated former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to seek everyone at a time when the present government is being alleged of dividing India.
In the elections a numerical majority only gives a political party the right to form a “stable” government and not a “majoritarian” one, he said.
The lack of a popular majority forbids you to become a majoritarian government. That is the message and nature of our parliamentary democracy,” Mukherjee said while delivering the second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture at the India Foundation here.
The former President Mukherjee also pointed out that while people have given “strong majorities” to various parties since 1952, not a single party has been elected with over 50 percent vote share.
The BJP has won 38 percent of the total votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Pranab Mukherjee called Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a “visionary” with a good understanding of the country and its people.
“India and Indians intrinsically cannot digest bigotry and division over a sustained period. We are a country of 12,69,219 square miles, practicing seven major religions, speaking 122 languages and 1,600 dialects in their everyday lives and representing the Constitution of India. Atalji accepted this reality. He shaped his vision for everyone. He sought to take everyone along even though many may not have agreed with his ideological inclinations,” he added.
Many violent protests are involving students that have broken out ever since President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent for the Citizenship Amendment Bill on Wednesday. Critics have said that the law, which aims to expedite citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from three neighboring nations, goes against the secular principles of the constitution.
Earlier on Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah appealed to students protesting the new citizenship law to “study” the CAA, he says that “there was no provision to take away the citizenship of any Indian”. He also claimed that the protesters were being misled by certain “political elements” who were trying to further their own political goals, and accused the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress of “creating an atmosphere of violence”.
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