Present wave of peaceful protests in country will help deepen India's democratic roots: Pranab
New Delhi, Jan 24: Describing listening, arguing and dissent as essence of democracy, former president Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said he believes that the present wave of largely peaceful protests that have "gripped" the country will once again enable the deepening of India's democratic roots.
He also cautioned that while India's tryst with democracy is a story which needs to be told time and again, "complacency enables authoritarian tendencies to gain ground".
Mukherjee pointed out that in the last few months people, particularly the youth, come out on the streets in large numbers to voice their views on issues "which in their view are important".
"Their assertion and belief in the Constitution of India is particularly heartening to see," he said at the first Sukumar Sen memorial lecture organised by the Election Commission here.
Indian democracy has been tested time and again, he said, adding that consensus is the lifeblood of democracy.
In an apparent reference to protests in parts of the country against the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the veteran leader said, "The last few months have witnessed people come out on the streets in large numbers, particularly the young, to voice their views on issues which in the opinion are important."
Their assertion and belief in the Constitution is particularly "heartening", he noted.
Democracy, he said, thrives on listening, deliberating, discussing, arguing and even dissent, he said in his address.
According to a copy of the speech made available after the event, he said, "I believe the present wave of largely peaceful protests that have gripped the country shall once again enable the further deepening of our democratic roots."
In his speech, Mukherjee had skipped these lines.
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Former BJP MLAs Malikayya Guttedar, Sharada Shetty join Congress
Bengaluru (PTI): Two former BJP MLAs Malikayya Guttedar and Sharada Mohan Shetty on Friday joined the Congress, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Guttedar is a six-time MLA from Afzalpur in Kalaburagi district and a former Minister.
Kalaburagi is the home district of Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who successfully contested the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections from there but lost in the 2019 polls.
Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting from Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Guttedar was supposedly upset with the induction of his brother Nithin Venkaiah Guttedar into the BJP earlier this month.
M Y Patil from Congress had won Afzalpur seat in the 2023 Assembly election, in which Malikayya Guttedar had finished third behind Nithin, who contested as an independent.
Malikayya, who was previously with the Congress and had joined the BJP later, had been criticising BJP veteran and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son B Y Vijayendra the state BJP president, after his brother's move to the party.
According to sources, Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister and Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, played a crucial role in bringing him back to the Congress fold.
Sharada Mohan Shetty was a Congress MLA from Kumta in Uttara Kannada district from 2013 to 2018. She had switched over to the BJP after being denied a ticket in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, who is the State Congress chief, and Priyank Kharge welcomed the two leaders and their supporters into the party fold.
Siddaramaiah said he knew that Malikayya Guttedar would not remain in the BJP for long because he is 'pro-social justice'.
ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು ಹಾಗು ಡಿಸಿಎಂ @DKShivakumar, ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ಅವರ ಸಮ್ಮುಖದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಜಿ ಶಾಸಕರಾದ ಮಾಲೀಕಯ್ಯ ಗುತ್ತೇದಾರ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಶಾರದಾ ಮೋಹನ್ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ ಅವರು ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಕಚೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರ್ಪಡೆಯಾದರು. ಸಚಿವರಾದ @PriyankKharge, ಕೆ.ಎನ್ ರಾಜಣ್ಣ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಹಲವರು ಉಪಸ್ಥಿತರಿದ್ದರು. pic.twitter.com/CT2Rpsye7f
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) April 19, 2024
