Wednesday, December 28 2005 16:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President L K Advani today (Dec 28, 2005) advocated strict population control norms for persons contesting in Parliamentary and Assembly elections saying that the BJP-ruled states should take an initiative in the matter.

"Population control has become unfashionable due to the excesses committed during emergency, but this should not stop the nation from pondering on the immense pressure the mounting population was putting on the resources.

"No political party has the courage to deal with this issue upfront; but we cannot bury our heads in the sands of times for ever," he said inaugurating the silver jubilee party convention here today.

He said that although a beginning has been made by introduction of family size as a qualifying clause for contesting Panchayat and civic bodies polls, there was still no such law for state assemblies and Parliament.

Electoral laws disqualifying candidates with more than two children must be uniformly applied to all legislative bodies, Panchayat upwards, Advani said.

He said the BJP-ruled governments can set an example and pursue norms that gain national acceptability, but warned that such measures shall never get implemented unless a consensus was worked upon.