Independent who wants to be harbinger of change

Krishan Tyagi (53) may be contesting the Parliamentary elections from the New Delhi constituency, but only so that he can change the Parliamentary form of government, reports Sidhartha Roy.

Krishan Tyagi (53) may be contesting the Parliamentary elections from the New Delhi constituency, but only so that he can change the Parliamentary form of government.

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Tyagi, a former bureaucrat turned journalist-turned-businessman who shuttles between the United Kingdom and India every six months Tyagi, decided to contest in the Lok Sabha elections for the first time less than a month ago, during one of his visits to his home in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

“The Parliamentary form of government, which we have inherited from the British, works the best in a two party set-up. However, in India, we don’t have any one party coming to majority and that leads to instability because you don’t know which party would withdraw its support when,” Tyagi said.

Instead, he roots for a Presidential form of government, like the one in the US.

“We don’t need to replicate them but improve upon their system,” he said. “We discuss issues like price rise and weak or strong Prime Ministers but the biggest issue is our whole system of governance, which needs to be reformed,” he said.

Tyagi, whose wife and children stay in UK, said his family supports him completely in his political foray. “My parents were initially apprehensive but now even they support me,” he said.

Though his business is in UK, he doesn’t like the tag of ‘NRI’.

“I prefer the term global Indian or transnational citizen,” he said.

Why New Delhi and not Meerut, from where he hails? “I don’t know about the local issues of Meerut and New Delhi being the centre of power, it is the best place to fight for the issue I believe in,” he said. And what if he loses? “I would build an NGO which would work for the cause. I know even If I win I wouldn’t be able to bring change overnight but at least I can start a debate,” he said.

The former Indian Economic Service officer believes a President, chosen directly by the people, would have more power and would be able to take strong, concrete decisions without having to look over his or her shoulder all the time.

Tyagi doesn’t believe that Presidential rule might lead to authoritarianism.

“The USA has had 44 Presidents—none of them were called dictators by people. However, we in india have experienced a kind of a dictatorship during the 1975 emergency,” he said.