The Telugu Desam Party today said existing laws need to be comprehensively amended to bar economic criminals and other offenders from politics.
"Economic criminals, other criminals and those who became super rich through black money have become a major threat to democracy. The laws should be comprehensively amended to bar such elements and ensure they have no place in politics," TDP said in its political resolution adopted on the final day of its three-day annual conclave 'Mahanadu', at Tirupati.
"Lack of government control in the past over black money has led to the deterioration of the country's economic situation. The unbridled corruption encouraged by the Congress is ruining the country's economy and threatening the democracy," the resolution said.
"Money laundering to countries known as tax havens has increased as economic offenders breached all laws. Such offenders joined hands with other criminals and set up political parties and emerged as a threat to democracy," it said.
The resolution also alluded to corruption cases against leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly and YSRC chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, without naming him, and called it "an example of the deterioration in political values".
The resolution also said only the TDP has the chance of becoming a national party in south India.
"As per Election Commission norms, a party should win 11 Lok Sabha seats in three states to become a national party. We now have 18 MPs in two states (17 in AP and one in Telangana). If we win at least one Lok Sabha seat in another state, we will officially become a national party. We will realise this in 2019," the resolution said.
Incidentally, during last year's Mahanadu, the TDP
declared itself as a national party though the EC did not recognise it as such.
"We are in power in AP. In Telangana, we are a strong opposition party. Our leaders won (local) elections in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. We are now trying to expand to Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Karnataka," the political resolution said.
TDP said politics in the country was acquiring a new face as parties and leaders who earned the people's goodwill were securing consecutive electoral victories.
"Naveen Patnaik government was voted to power four consecutive times in Odisha. BJP governments in Gujarat, MP and Chhattisgarh were voted to power three times in a row. Governments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal came back to power. In future, no government can be formed at the Centre without strong regional parties," the TDP said in the resolution.
The Congress that once ruled the country so powerfully has now been reduced to "less than a regional party". The Left parties too were reduced to nominal forces except in Kerala as they "got distanced from people", it said.
"The Left parties are struggling to prove their existence by taking up agitation programmes just for the sake of formality," the TDP added.
