Smooth transition of power in Lok Sabha, assembly elections is India's strength: Om Birla

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 8 (ANI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said that the smooth transition of power through 17 general elections and over 300 Assembly elections was the country's strength.
"The smooth transition of power through 17 general elections and over 300 Assembly elections is our strength. The democracy from gram panchayat to parliament has been getting strengthened. Mahatma Gandhi rightly said that the soul of India resides in the villages," said Birla while inaugurating the Outreach and Familiarisation program for Panchayati Raj Institutions here today.
Birla's remarks came a day after outgoing US President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol building and violent protests broke out in Washington.
"Today we have gathered to discuss how we can strengthen and empower the country from the panchayats to the Parliament. Our sense of democracy is strong. In all the democracies of the world since independence, India's democracy is strong," he said.
The basic concept of the constitution is that governance should be made by keeping the people in the middle, the Lok Sabha Speaker said.
Birla said the democracy in India is among the strongest and most empowered democracies of the world.
The programme here was organised by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE), Lok Sabha Secretariat in coordination with the Government of Uttarakhand for the Panchayati Raj Institutions of the state.
"I started every programme of my tenure from this Devbhoomi. Today we are here to discuss how we can strengthen and empower the democratic institutions starting from the Gram Panchayats to the Parliament. Since independence, India's democracy has been among the strongest and empowered democracies of the world," the Speaker said.
Birla described how the smooth transitions of power through elections reinforced the democratic values in India. "The core concept of the constitution was making governance people-centric,"' added Birla.
According to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, around 405 Panchayat representatives including 26 Zila Panchayat Chairman and Deputy Chairman along with 109 Block Panchayat Pramukh and 270 nominated Gram Pradhans of Uttarakhand attended the programme.
In addition, 376 Zila Panchayat Members, 3,201 Block Panchayats Members and 7,791 Gram Pradhan have been connected to the programme online via weblink. (ANI)