Not easy for Kejriwal to broad-base Aam Aadmi Party: Hegde

New Delhi, Nov 28: Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal may find it difficult to broad-base his newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) given the complexity of the electoral process in India, according to former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde.

In his opinion, a new party that wishes to create a significant impact must have financial backing in plenty and also the organisational structure should be strong enough to help it mount an effective challenge to the existing outfits across the country.

"My only apprehension is how far will a political party survive because of the very many demands of the political system, these days. It requires a huge amount of money to elect nearly 546 Members of Parliament from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. It is not going to be an easy job," Hedge told the Press Trust of India.

To a specific query about his perception of Kejriwal's new party, he replied, "It is a good thing in principle, but in reality, can it succeed?" Incidentally, Hegde and Kejriwal had worked together when the latter was part of Team Anna.

On both Team Anna and Aam Aadmi Party pressing for the Prime Minister to be brought under the proposed Lokpal, Hegde pointed out that the PM is a public servant too.

"What is wrong in the Lokpal having jurisdiction over the Prime Minister? Is the Prime Minister not a public servant? Aren't there cases of corruption against PMs in other countries? In Japan, you find every other year a Prime Minister is prosecuted. (Former US President Richard) Nixon was prosecuted... What is so great about the PM?" Hegde demanded to know.

On the whole fuss about the post of Lokpal, he quipped that it is like "giving a dog a bad name and kicking it." Hegde noted, "We have had allegations of corruption against two former PMs - Bofors and the JMM bribery case." He was referring to Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao, respectively.

"In a democracy, how can a person merely because he is holding an office be excluded from prosecution? The Constitution excludes the prosecution of the President and the Governors in some cases...One can't apply the same principle on a man who passes executive orders on a daily basis," Hegde stressed.

OneIndia News