E-Paper
Raghav Chadha bats for ‘Right to Recall’ in Parliament: ‘If voters can hire, they should be able to fire’
Chadha raised the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, and later took to social media platform X to elaborate on the mechanism.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday pitched for the introduction of ‘Right to Recall’ in India's parliamentary democracy. The Rajya Sabha MP argued that voters must have the right to remove elected representatives before they complete their term if they fail to perform.
Chadha raised the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, and later took to social media platform X to elaborate on the mechanism. “If voters can HIRE a neta, they should be able to FIRE the neta too. If Indian voters have the Right to Elect, they should have the ‘RIGHT TO RECALL’ too,” he said.
In the Rajya Sabha, the AAP leader said that while Indian citizens have the constitutional right to elect their representatives in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, there is no direct mechanism for them to de-elect them on account of non-performance or misconduct, PTI reported.
Chadha said that more than 24 democracies in the world, including United States and Switzerland, “provide recall or voter initiated removal mechanisms in some form.”
What is the ‘Right to Recall’
‘Right to Recall’ is a mechanism which empowers voters to “de-elect an elected representative”, whether it be an MP or an MLA, before the completion of their five-year term ends. The citizens can remove these representatives if they fail to discharge their duties, Chadha said.
In his post on X, the AAP MP stated, “If we can impeach the President, the Vice President and judges, and move a no confidence motion against an elected government mid term, then why should voters be forced to tolerate a non performing MP or MLA for five full years.”
He further said that five years “is too long”, adding that there is no profession where you underperform for that duration “with zero consequences.”
What are the safeguards the AAP MP has suggested?
While urging the introduction of this reform, Chadha has also suggested some safeguards to prevent misuse. These include:
• Threshold - A recall “trigger” or proposal needs to be backed by at least 35 to 40 per cent voters through a verified petition before any recall vote is held.
• Cooling period - There must be in place a minimum 18-month lock-in period after election so the representative has time to deliver and cannot be targeted immediately after winning.
• Clear grounds - The recall must only be initiated for proven misconduct, fraud, corruption or serious neglect of duty. It cannot be used in case of usual political disagreements.
• Final test - The recall will go through only if more than 50 per cent voters support removal in the recall vote.
