PM need not be from Lok Sabha: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress today dismissed suggestions that the Prime Minister should be from the Lok Sabha. Asked to comment on NCP leader PA Sangma’s views in this regard, party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters that this question has been replied umpteen times and “our stand is very clear that we follow the democratic processes which are permitted under the Constitution of India”.[caption id=“attachment_263874” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A Rajya Sabha member. Image courtesy PIB”] [/caption] Sangma had earlier said one of the problems facing Indian democracy is that it’s not binding on the Prime Minister to be a member of the Lok Sabha. “We must amend the Constitution to ensure that only a Lok Sabha member will be a PM. The most important duty of the Lok Sabha is to produce a PM. A Prime Minister from the Rajya Sabha cannot vote for his own government if he is not a member of the Lok Sabha, and this is an absurd situation,” Sangma said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is at the helm of affairs since 2004, is a member of the Rajya Sabha. PTI