Vidhan Parishad for Rajasthan clears by Union Cabinet

In a significant development on Wednesday, the Union cabinet cleared the state’s proposal for having a Vidhan Parishad or Legislative Council. The proposal would now be presented before the parliament in the form of a bill, which has to be passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha by a two-third majority for the Council to come into existence. Once cleared by the parliament, Rajasthan would become the seventh state in the country to have a Vidhan Parishad.

“It is a historic decision and we thank Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for paving the way for the Council, which will increase the people’s representation in the law making process,” the ruling party’s chief whip Raghu Sharma told TOI.

He added, “The initiative taken by chief minister Ashok Gehlot will provide an opportunity to eminent persons from different walks of life to serve the state.”

The resolution to create a Vidhan Parishad was passed by the state assembly exactly a year ago. With a division of votes, but without any debate, the assembly passed the resolution on April 18, 2012, even as the CPM legislators voted against it and independent legislator Golma Devi abstained from the voting.

CPM leader Amra Ram told TOI on Wednesday, “The Parishad will put an additional burden of Rs 400 crore on the Rajasthan people, who are not going to benefit in any way. He alleged, “Congress and BJP want the Parishad simply to provide backdoor entry into the state legislature to their members who cannot win a direct election.”

Though the opposition BJP maintained that chief minister Gehlot’s move to create the Parishad was to gain political mileage for the ruling Congress, it supported the assembly resolution and claimed that the saffron party was the first to propose it. The pervious Vasundhara Raje government announced to make the state legislature a bicameral body and her party later included this even in its election manifesto of December 2008, but her government failed to bring the resolution before the assembly.

As per the constitution, the size of a Vidhan Parishad has to one-third of the membership of the Vidhan Sabha in the particular state. At the same time, its size cannot be less than 40 members.

src: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Union-cabinet-clears-Vidhan-Parishad-for-Rajasthan/articleshow/19625444.cms