Political parties lack internal democracy: Ramesh Kumar

Political parties do not have internal democracy. They have become the fiefdom of families, former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said on Wednesday.

Addressing the Assembly during the special debate on the Constitution, Kumar said without the parties facilitating democracy within themselves, it would not translate into effective democracy in the country at large.

Speaking about the contributions of Dr B R Ambedkar, Ramesh Kumar said the country was defeating the Constitution by not addressing corruption. All the wings of the government including monitoring bodies such as the Election Commission, had failed in questioning disproportionate assets of some leaders, he said.

Further, he called upon Savarnas to widen their understanding of Dr Ambedkar's contributions. "Savarnas should give him the credit he deserves and see him as a humanist instead of seeing him only as a leader of Dalits," he said.