Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Confessions on law-making

People's representatives have been reduced to mere `rubber stamps' as far as policy-making is concerned. This is the candid confession of a former MLA at a seminar on `relationship between Parliament and Judiciary' organised by the Centre for Policy Studies last week.

Recalling his stint in the Assembly, the former MLA, K. Haribabu, said: "I used to question myself as to what was my contribution to the legislative process. The budget speech is prepared by the executive (bureaucrats) and the people's representatives merely sign them. The majority party passes it without incorporating any changes based on the recommendations of other legislators."

The legislative business is taken up between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. when most legislators do not bother to attend and the crucial decisions are passed at that time to avoid any voice of dissent.

Vizag has become a city of traffic jams even during normal days with some political party or people's organisation staging a rasta roko or a dharna on one issue or the other, in addition to the routine blockades caused due to vehicular traffic during peak hours or some traffic violation.

Now, it's a galore of such incidents daily, thanks to the campaign by contesting candidates in the GVMC elections.

There can be one more reason for causing traffic jams during the next few days. Guess what? Vizagites are mad about whatever is new and whenever a big mall or hypermarket is opened in the city, you find the entire road where they are located getting blocked by vehicles for hours together. The Reliance Fresh outlets opened during the beginning of the week are sure to attract them to repeat the record at the weekend when they make a beeline to the outlets instead of the rythu bazaar.

Congress MP and former Chief Minister N. Janardhan Reddy, known for his off-the-cuff remarks, sent the participants at a meeting of Congress and CPI candidates for GVMC polls on Monday, into peels of laughter.

Apparently commenting on his prolonged absence in the city by a section of his partymen and media, he remarked: "For development of Visakhapatnam Parliamentary constituency, the MP has to stay outside. Otherwise, there would be no development."

He narrated how one had to lobby in Delhi to get clearances for various projects and declared that the city would soon become a mega city with the establishment of several Greenfield projects.

B. Madhu Gopal, Prabhakkar Sharma and Santosh Patnaik

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Confessions on law-making

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