TIMES NOW
Debate: KiranVsKejriwal
THE UNANSWERED POINTS & QUESTIONS
By Amba Charan Vashishth
The yesterday (20 January, 2015) Newshour Debate
on Times Now was interesting and lively. But many important points seem
to have drowned in the din of the debaters speaking to each other.
A point was made that Kiran Bedi should have taken
on Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency against Kejriwal. Although Ajay Maken
is contesting against Kejriwal, yet he has not been projected as Congress chief
ministerial candidate. Why? Is it her opponents or the media to decide it? It
is for her and the Party to decide from where she should fight the election.
If one were to go by the arguments of the anchor
and the participants, they wish to throw a new tradition in our democracy where
the chief (or prime) ministerial candidates should be made to fight each other
in one constituency. This has never happened in a parliamentary democracy,
neither in UK nor in USA. The only difference in USA is that there is a direct
contest between the contestants, there being only two parties in the fray. But
in India we have a few hundred parties and each will declare its own chief
ministerial candidate.
Then who will decide the name of the constituency
from where all the chief ministerial candidates should fight each other?
In the past no chief (or prime) ministerial
candidate has chosen to challenge his rival from the same constituency. The
only exception is Kejriwal who contested from Varanasi against Modi. But he was
a self-propelled (and to an extent Media) prime ministerial candidate. The
results have shown how laughable was his claim. Further, Modi was fighting from
Vadodra in Gujarat also. Why did Kejriwal not contest from there?
In the past neither Indira Gandhi, nor Manmohan
Singh contested against their prime ministerial probables in the opposition. In
2009 elections Dr. Manmohan Singh did not challenge to contest against L. K.
Advani. This time too though Congress and media made it as Modi Vs Rahul
contest, Rahul or his mother did not fight elections against Modi in either of
the two seats. Then, why this so much hulla-bulla in the case of Kiran Bedi?
It was alleged that Kiran Bedi had been made to
contest from a safe seat for BJP. Does that mean that even before the
nominations have been filed, both AAP and Congress have accepted their defeat
from Krishnanagar?
e-mail: acvashishth@gmail.com
e-mail: acvashishth@gmail.com
