Are we short of people?

Is this nation teeming with  121,01,93422, and still counting by minutes, short of people to represent our esteemed Rajya Sabha?

 

This must be the question that went through the minds of many Indians when 2G accused and now out on bail Kanimozhi was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of the Congress Party. She spared no time to thank her benefactor as soon as she was elected!

Kanimozhi thanks Sonia Gandhi for support in Rajya Sabha polls

 

NEW DELHI: DMK leader Kanimozhi on Friday thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for supporting her in getting elected to Rajya Sabha earlier this week. 
"I was here to offer my party's thanks to Sonia Gandhi for supporting us," she told reporters hereRajyaSabha and Lok Sabha are almost the same when it comes to The salary, allowances andpension for a member and also the qualification.

As you many know, the Rajya Sabha has equal footing in all areas of legislation with Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. 

Now let us see the qualifications needed to contest the RS seat: The salary, allowances and pension for a member of Rajya Sabha are same as in Lok Sabha and so is the qualification too.

QualificationsAs per Article 84 of Indian Constitution, the Qualification for being a member of Lok Sabha is that he should be a citizen of India and has taken an oath given under Third Schedule of the Constitution. Also he must be at least 25 years of Age.
However ,as per Article 102 of Indian Constitution ,a member can be disqualified for being a member of parliament:-

• if he holds office of profit;

• if he is an undischarged insolvent;

• if he is of unsound mind;

• if he gives up as a citizenship of India or under allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;

• if he is violating party discipline(as per Tenth schedule of the constitution).

Also under Representation of People Act 1951, he should not be criminally convicted, which would lead to disqualification otherwise.

The trial of 2G scam is still going on and she is yet to be acquitted: Does this mean that they have already influenced the court?

M. K. Kanimmozhi

·         Political career – Daughter of five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Political party DMK. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian Parliament).^[49][50]·         Allegation – As per the chargesheet filed by CBI Kanimozhi has 20% stake in her family owned Kalaignar TV, her step-mother Dayalu Ammal owns 60% stake in the same channel.^[51] CBI alleges that Kanimozhi was an "active brain" behind the channel's operations^[51] and she worked along with former telecom minister A. Raja to get DB Realty promoter Shahid Balwa to circuitously route 2 billion (US$34 million) to Kalaignar TV.^[52] According to CBI, Kanimozhi was in regular touch with A Raja regarding launching of Kalaignar TV channel and its other pending works.^[52] CBI alleges that A Raja was further pursuing the cause of Kalaignar TV not only for getting registration of the company from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting but also for getting it in the DTH operator TATA Sky's bouquet. She was also summoned by the Income Tax Department, Chennai for alleged tax evasion charges.^[52]·         Charges – Criminal conspiracy to cause criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy under section 120-B, cheating under section 420 & forgery under sections 468 and 471. Booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.^[28][40]·         Status – Taken into custody (arrested) by CBI on 20 May 2011.^[53][54] Granted bail on 28 November 2011 after spending 188 days in judicial custody.^[55][56] As of August 2012, trial is being conducted in Special CBI Court.^[48]

The Lok Sabha is already teeming with those who have criminal background but the least Kanimozhi could have done was stay away from politics until her name was cleared. How much ever poetry she writes, in the hearts of many Indians she has lost even the little respect and sympathy that she gained.

Identity

It was a casual remark: "One need to have a political and religious identity": set me thinking. Really? What purpose does it serve?

Let me look at both. Having a political identity means that you are a die-hard fan of a particular party. And what does a political party do? Ideally in a democracy it should help in nation building. The same goes for religion too. Ideally, it should build the spiritual side of a person. But what happens when one succumbs to a political party/ideology or religion? One fails to see the mistakes it commits. After all, both religion and political parties are made on earth by mortals and is bound to fail. When you surrender your identity to a religion or a political party you fail to speak out for it's wrongs.

One good example would be Hitler who headed the Nazi party and was able to persuade many to kill in the name of his ideology. It looked very easy once he attained power over the minds of his followers. He became too powerful to rein in even if anyone had second thoughts.

As for religion, I don't have to say anything! The examples are numerous.

In my state of Kerala, the main political parties are the Congress led UDF and the Communist parties under LDF. They take turns governing almost every 5 years and this happens not because of the die-hard fans of these parties but only because of those who rose above each party! The die-hard fans must surely have voted for their favourite party, but it is the votes of the rest which turned the tide.

A party ideology or love can prove to be disgusting at times. The recent one would be the brutal killing of TP Chandrashekaran. Am not ready to blame it on the Communist party with whom he was at loggerheads but one saw the hatred of the party even after he was dead! What makes one behave so?

Or let us look at the love of the Congress or the BJP fans. It is the same kind of blindness that is exhibited by many.

Let me conclude by saying that to build our nation each citizen should rise above political parties and be ready to point out the mistakes of those who ruin the nation.

A political party should be made to build the nation and not the politicians.