AAP's Raghav Chadha calls for 'Right to Recall'

New Delhi: Advocating for the introduction of a 'Right to Recall' mechanism in India, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday said that this would encourage political parties to field stronger candidates, boost overall accountability and reduce corruption.

He argued that voters should have the authority to remove elected representatives—such as MPs and MLAs—mid-term if they fail to perform or engage in misconduct, rather than waiting for the full five-year term to end.

Speaking during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha highlighted that while Indian citizens constitutionally hold the right to elect their representatives, no direct mechanism currently exists for voters to "de-elect" them prematurely due to non-performance or wrongdoing.

Chadha drew parallels to existing accountability measures in India, such as the impeachment process for the President, Vice President, and judges, as well as no-confidence motions against governments, and suggested extending similar democratic oversight to individual legislators.

Chadha noted that more than 20 democracies worldwide—including the United States and Switzerland—already have some form of recall or voter-initiated removal system at various government levels.

He emphasized that a five-year term is excessively long for evaluating performance without consequences, comparing it to no other profession where prolonged underperformance goes unpunished.

To prevent misuse or political instability, Chadha proposed key safeguards, a high threshold to trigger the process, such as a verified petition supported by at least 35-40% per cent of registered voters in the constituency, strict grounds limited to proven misconduct, corruption, fraud, or serious neglect of duty—excluding routine political disagreements.