MP Manish Tewari proposes bill seeking Rajya Sabha seat for Chandigarh
The bill added that a special law in terms of Article 80 (5) of the Constitution therefore needed to be enacted to provide representation to the unrepresented UTs
Demanding representation of the Union Territory of Chandigarh in the Rajya Sabha, member of Parliament Manish Tewari proposed a private bill in the Parliament in this regard on Friday.
The bill proposes to amend Article 80 of the Constitution by adding a clause that a representative of the UT of Chandigarh in the Council of States shall be elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of the local municipal corporation.
In December 2022 also, Tewari had introduced the same bill in the Lok Sabha while he was the MP from Anandpur Sahib constituency. However, the bill could not get through then.
He had stated that it was his moral responsibility to seek a Rajya Sabha seat for Chandigarh, with which he had an emotional connection. In the freshly proposed bill, he stated that the UTs of Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir and the NCR of Delhi found representation in the Council of States. But the UTs of Ladakh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep were unrepresented.
The bill added that a special law in terms of Article 80 (5) of the Constitution therefore needed to be enacted to provide representation to the unrepresented UTs. The proposed bill is however specific to providing representation to the UT of Chandigarh.
A Rajya Sabha seat for Chandigarh would mean a larger representation of the UT in the Parliament and increased MPLAD funds for developmental works.