There is a little known clause in the Representation of the People that stipulates a party to be eligible for registration should swear by democracy, secularism and socialism in its constitution. The need for the first two are understandable, though debatable. But what about socialism? Why should parties be not opposed to socialism? Is this clause against the basic tenets of the constitution? Here is the experience of a person (S V Raju) who tried to register such a party:
"Jerry Rao has, as usual, written a good piece on the need for a free- market political party in India, "Tired of socialists", Mint, 8 June. He correctly refers to the fact that I have been trying to register a party that is expressly opposed to socialism and that I have made very little headway. In fact, I tried to register the old Swatantra Party (there was no registration required in the old days) but my application for registration was rejected. An amendment to the Representation of the People Act made when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister stipulated that the constitution or the rules and regulations of political parties should contain a provision swearing loyalty to democracy, secularism and socialism. The Election Commission sent me a form for registration which I completed and returned, accepting democracy and secularism but rejecting socialism, as the Swatantra Party was opposed to it in principle. The registration was turned down. A friend and I filed a writ petition in the Bombay high court in December 1996. The writ was admitted. It has still to come up for hearing. This is the hurdle. Under current law, no party that refuses to accept socialism can get registered as a political party. So much for our democracy!" Best regards, Murali. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
