Bhubaneswar, May 24: Calling upon the intelligentsia to enter
politics, NCP general secretary and former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A
Sangma today said it will lead to the democratic structure of the
country becoming stronger.

"The biggest problem of the Indian polity is that good, honest and
educated people are shying away from politics," he said while
delivering a talk on future of parliamentary democracy in India
organised by the forum for developing thoughts here.

"It is time to go back to ideology and principles and good people
must come to politics," he said adding bad people were entering the
political arena banking on money and muscle power.

A few years ago rich zamindars and thakurs were portrayed as bad men
in films, but today characters of politicians and policemen were
being projected as villains on celluloid, the NCP leader said.

Referring to Bollywood movies, Sangma said the nexus, said to be
existing between politicians and criminals, was dangerous but the
alliance between politicians and bureaucrats was proving to be more
dangerous.

He bemoaned that there was no political ideology in the country and
politicians were running away from it. "Unfortunately, politics today
was based on personalities."

"We have to go back to ideology and principles to win the confidence
of the people," Sangma said.