CHENNAI: Whips are issued by parties on ‘90 per cent issues’, keeping the people’s representatives from expressing their own views, said BJP MP from Sultanpur Varun Gandhi at the ‘Distinguished Thought Leadership Series’ lectures organised at the Great Lakes Institute of Management on Thursday.
He briefly touched upon political aspects as he spoke on ‘Road to India’s Future: Opportunities and Challenges’.
“Only through dissent, comes betterment,” he said, adding that there was often no scope for conscience voting and that sometimes his own views were independent of his party’s. He went on to say that while he had no problems with MPs enjoying a hike in salaries, he was against the ‘institutionalisation that allowed them to get together and give themselves a raise’.
He added that at the same time when farmers from Tamil Nadu were agitating in Jantar Mantar, even drinking their own urine to register their anger with the system, the Tamil Nadu Assembly chose to double the salaries of its legislators instead.
In his opinion at least 8 per cent of GDP should be spent towards education and health. “During Nehru’s time, about 7% of GDP was spent on education whereas it is only 2.5 % now.”
He told the 600 students in attendance how only people power was going to be viable and valuable in the future, urging them to take up social issues and not to lose momentum.
“If you do not agitate and create momentum, you are not performing your role as citizens,” he told the students. Bala V Balachandran, founder, dean and chairman of Great Lakes Institute of Management was present at the event. The distinguished thought leadership series is held by the institution every year.