Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification unfortunate, says Amartya Sen; welcomes opposition unity meet

Commenting on Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen said he did not recall any Member of Parliament facing arrest in any similar case or losing their seat in the Lower House because of a similar case.

“It may well be very unfortunate for India that we are going in that direction,” Sen said in an interview with the news agency PTI. He welcomed the ongoing efforts to forge a united front against the BJP.

Saying that democracy demands sharing of power, the noted economist and philosopher, as per the PTI said, “I think the fact of the matter is often democracy demands the sharing of power. (But) oft , the majority vote did not allow the minority parties to have that force and rather left the minority (in) too precarious (a situation)”.

“Given the current situation, the only way of having some kind of balancing of power…(would be for the opposition parties) to stand with each other, rather than remain vulnerable,” Sen told PTI.  

“In some ways that seemed to be what happened in the meeting in Patna (opposition conclave held last month)”.

After Patna’s meeting, leaders from 26 parties are expected to take part in a two-day anti-BJP conclave organised by the Congress.

Besides the Congress, JD(U) and RJD, most major opposition parties including Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), AAP, CPI(M), CPI, CPI (ML), Shiv Sena and NCP will be joining the meeting.

NCP founder Sharad Pawar will join the meeting tomorrow, confirmed Congress Mallikarjun Kharge.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will also attend the meeting of the Opposition block.  

On Manipur violence that has claimed more than 150 lives, Sen said, “What is needed is (a) just, powerful intervention by the central government.”

Sen also said he had expected the Prime Minister would make a statement “of a just and balanced nature about Manipur”.

The economist said he would be surprised if the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), “would have a constructive role.”

He pointed out that the “Indian Constitution is a well-thought-out structure” which was passed by the Constituent Assembly after much deliberation and thought and added that the process had given “different sides in the Indian polity” to express their views before a consensus was arrived.

With PTI inputs