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Former MP and president of Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam M. Ramadass urged the Union Government to stick to the Constitutional spirit in the appointment of three nominated legislators to Puducherry Assembly.

In a statement, he said the Union Territories Act, 1963 allows the Centre to nominate three members to the Assembly. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the framing of the Act have discussed in length the pros and cons in the appointment of nominated legislators, he said.

During the Parliamentary debates on the subject, several leaders who were then in opposition have warned about the danger of using the provision to nominate members to the Assembly for manipulating legislative majority, he said

Quoting Parliamentary debates, Mr. Ramadass said the then Union Home Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had responded to the concerns of opposition leaders by stating that the provision for nominating MLAs would be used “only in public interest and not for partisan politics.”

“As per Shastri’s explanation, the nomination system was specifically intended to provide representation to sections of society that might otherwise remain excluded from the Assembly through elections. These included unrepresented or underrepresented communities, tribal groups, women, intellectuals, engineers and other distinguished professionals whose expertise could strengthen discussions in the Assembly and governance,” Mr. Ramadass said.

However, those ruling at the Centre have only nominated political loyalists for reaping political benefits. All the ruling dispensations at Centre had reduced the provision to a mechanism for political expansion and partisan control. Systematic reforms should be made in the nomination process to make the appointment of the legislators transparent, non-partisan and adhering to Parliamentary guidelines, he said.

“At least this time, the Centre should nominate a member of the fishermen community, a woman and an intellectual. The fishermen form the third largest social group in Puducherry and Karaikal regions. But there is no representation from the community among elected representatives. Further not a single woman has been elected to the present Assembly. The provision of nomination could be utilised by the Centre to give representation to the sections,” he said.

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