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Advani swears by presidential form of governance, urges constitutional review

Union Home Minister L K Advani today persisted with his demand for having a ''fresh look'' at the working of the Constitution, to explore the possibility of going in for a Presidential form of government without altering its basic structure.

Citing the Supreme Court's ruling in the Keshavanand Bharati case, Advani pointed out that the order avoided any mention of the parliamentary form of government. It merely stated ''people's democracy'', which could be interpreted either as the parliamentary form or the Presidential form of government.

'Democracy', on which the entire Constitution was based, would be preserved at all costs, he said. Advani made this statement while discussing the political resolution at the concluding session of the Bharatiya Janata Party's national council meeting in Gandhinagar.

Allaying the Opposition's apprehensions, particularly the Left, Advani assured that all concerned would be taken into confidence on the discussions relating to the review of the Constitution. In this context, the former BJP president said, an expert committee was being set up to go into the entire working of the Constitution.

UNI

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