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HT Leadership Summit | A Vision of India:Panel Discussion
7 Dec 2013 Morning Session
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Bharatiya Janta Party leader Arun Jaitley at a session 'A Vision for India' chaired by Rajdeep Sardesai
On improving governance : Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said – people get the governments they deserve – to underscore the need for people to make the “right choice” when choosing their representatives.
Both leaders were quizzed about what they were doing to clean up politics. They agreed that political parties themselves shared a lot of responsibility in this regard but “could not be blamed fully for the status quo approach because our democracy involved numbers.”
Jaitley and Singh, however, did not dispute the fact that political parties had lost credibility and that citizens were turning cynical.
“Credibility is definitely important. It is affected when the political parties and leaders do not do what they say,” Singh said.
But he also argued that “all parties are fighting complex situations and electoral reforms have to be practical to be very effective.”
Singh said governance depended on empowerment of local communities and a “down to approach.” He pointed to the UPA government’s achievements such as introduction of the Right To Education and Right To Information in this regard.
Above all, the people themselves must abide by law, he said.
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