New Lokpal Bill to be tabled in Lok Sabha tomorrow

NEW DELHI: A new Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha tomorrow and the existing one withdrawn.

This was conveyed by the government to the main opposition party, the BJP, on Wednesday along with the intention to have a three-day additional sitting of Parliament from December 27 to take up this crucial bill. BJP gave its nod to this proposal.

Earlier today, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha - Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha - Arun Jaitley and BJP leader L K Advani to discuss the issue.

Mukherjee conveyed to the BJP that the Lokpal Bill passed by the Cabinet last night could be circulated to MPs only later this evening, according to sources.

He also said that the existing Lokpal Bill- introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament- will be withdrawn in the Lok Sabha tomorrow and the new bill introduced. Mukherjee said that in this scenario, there was little option but to extend the winter session by three more days and discuss the Lokpal Bill from December 27 to 29.

BJP agreed to the proposal after initial reluctance. BJP party sources said its opposition is to the content of the bill rather than extension of this session.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) will meet this evening to decide on the extension.

Government is keen to ensure passage of the Lokpal Bill along with two crucial legislations- Judicial Accountability Bill and Whistleblower Protection Bill -- during the current session. But since only two days are left, it wants additional sitting after the Christmas break.

The BAC had yesterday decided to hold an additional three day sitting from December 27 but later several MPs opposed it, prompting the government to say it will have a rethink.

Several MPs, including from the UPA coalition, are still opposed to the three day extension of the session.

Lokpal Bill was cleared last night by the Union Cabinet. The new bill will be a Constitution amendment Bill which will also bring the Prime Minister under the ambit of Lokpal with certain riders.

The bill, however, keeps the CBI out of purview of Lokpal except on cases which are referred to it by the latter. The Lokpal will have its own wings for preliminary inquiries and prosecution.

The Lokpal will be a nine-member body including the chairperson.

No 'understanding' with Govt on Lokpal: BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday refuted suggestions it had an "understanding" with the government on the Lokpal Bill, insisting the party will stick to the dissent notes it had submitted to the Parliamentary panel dealing with the Bill and also move amendments where it does not agree.

Though senior BJP leaders maintained they were unaware of the contents of the Lokpal Bill and can react only when the copy of the proposed legislation is circulated to them, the party said it will not dilute its stand.
"There is no understanding with the government on the Lokpal Bill. Only when the draft is circulated will it be possible for us to study it and comment on it. We will try to give a preliminary reaction tomorrow," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.

He said BJP has already stated its position on the Lokpal in the dissent notes it gave to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice which was dealing with the existing Lokpal Bill. BJP members in the Committee had given 18 dissent notes.

The BJP leader insisted that his party had reacted "at times even harshly" to the government Lokpal draft, adding that the yardstick for this is the dissent note.

Jaitley maintained that what has appeared in the newspapers about the "basic features" of new Lokpal Bill is "a matter of concern".

"Like in the appointment of Lokpal the influence of the government is overarching, if the newspaper reports are true. The independence and autonomy of the CBI is not there; there is government control. There are several other questions on which it is possible to make comments only after seeing the whole draft," Jaitley said.

The BJP also maintained that the extension of winter session of Parliament was not a priority area for the party and it was only concerned about the content of the law which should be "reasonable".

Lokpal: endgame near despite Anna protest?

New Delhi: As the deadline of another agitation by Anna Hazare for a strong Lokpal Bill approaches, the UPA has decided to withdraw the old draft and introduce a new one in Parliament even though several smaller parties have accused the Government of trying to rush though the proposed anti-corruption legislation.
Anna has threatened to go on hunger strike from December 27 if Parliament fails to pass a strong Lokpal Bill, but there is no unanimity among the different parties on the proposed Bill.

The winter session of Parliament, which was scheduled to end on December 22, has been extended by three days from December 27 to discuss Lokpal Bill and other legislations.

The Lokpal bill is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and would be taken up for discussion when Parliament reconvenes on December 27 after a four-day Christmas break.

Even as UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi addressed Congress MPs and assured them that the government bend further to please Team Anna and the Opposition, the UPA withdrew the old bill and decided to introduce a new draft. The BJP has given its nod to this proposal.

She told her party colleagues that the Government won't go down without a fight on the Lokpal Bill and will ensure that it doesn't meet the same fate as the Women's Reservation Bill.

She also reiterated that the Government and the party were united on the issue and hit out at the Opposition in general and the BJP in particular for trying to derail the Lokpal Bill.

"The Lokpal Bill has been cleared by the Cabinet. The Opposition will have lots of things to say. They should accept suggestions of Government. Team Anna should also accept it. The Opposition cannot reconcile to the fact that they lost (the 2009 Lok Sabha elections). The party and Government support each other, there is no rift between the party and Government," said Sonia.

In another major development, several MPs cutting across party lines have come down heavily on both the Lokpal Bill cleared by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Cabinet and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury have questioned the UPA Government's intention while making it clear that Parliament will not rush through the anti-corruption legislation in a hurry to please Hazare and his associates.

Lalu questioned the need for rushing though the legislation and said that a Bill can be passed after following a due process of Parliament.

"No one can dictate terms to us. Parliament has to follow due process. It is an important legislation. MPs may want to move amendments. How can we rush through it?" questioned Lalu.

Mulayam Singh Yadav warned the government that the proposed legislation would give 'all powers' to the police.

"Lokpal will not be in your hands. It will go to the hands of police. Nothing can be done then against the police," he said and apparently referred to Anna Hazare as he asked whether all this could be done "under pressure of one man".

He said his party will oppose as much as it can. "These powers will go to the police, they will not respect us (MPs). Superintendents of Police and District

Magistrates will send us to jail," Yadav said.

Mayawati-led Bhaujan Samaj Party is also against rushing through the Bill while the Shiv Sena has opposed the concept of a Lokpal completely. The BJP and Biju Janata Dal have also opposed the Government version, but want an early passage of the Bill.

The BJP is yet to reveal its strategy but it has said that the party is ready for a discussion on the Bill any day. It is likely to raise objections on the procedure of the appointment of the Lokpal panel.

BJP leader Arun Jaitely said, "Primary reports on draft are matter of concern. It doesn't measure to our expectation. Selection of Lokpal and independence of CBI is a major concern."

However, Keeping up the heat, Team Anna on Wednesday attacked the government for keeping CBI out of Lokpal's ambit, saying it 'totally destroys' the anti-corruption mechanism in the country by not giving an investigating arm to the ombudsman.

"If the CBI is outside, then how will the Lokpal be strong? This system will save corrupt politicians. If CBI comes under Lokpal then (Home Minister) P Chidambaram will be in jail. You are saving corrupt politicians and say it is a strong Lokpal," Anna said.

"It is cheating people who will teach them a lesson," he said adding he will campaign against the UPA in Uttar Pradesh and other four states going to polls early next year.

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said the new bill will do "more harm than doing good" to the existing anti-graft machinery.

Another Team Anna member Justice Santosh Hegde said there was some "ego problem" with government in accepting certain suggestions in Jan Lokpal bill while Kiran Bedi claimed that the agency will remain under government control till immunity is given for past acts of corruption by political parties.

"The Lokpal Bill will not have even investigating powers. You will complain to Lokpal but it cannot investigate. What Lokpal is the government setting up? It means the government is cheating people," Kejriwal said.

Hegde said with CBI out of Lokpal's control, what it does will be like departmental enquiry. "This is certainly unacceptable," he said.

Bedi said on micro-blogging site Twitter, "The bill is not path breaking but breaking the path. Thank you Sonia G."

"It appears till a provision for immunity is guaranteed for past acts of corruption, political parties will ensure CBI remains in government control," she said, adding it was now 'Save CBI' campaign.

The government may find it difficult to pass the Lokpal Bill in the Parliament if the Opposition continue to oppose it. The government has a majority in Lok Sabha but the Opposition can push for amendments in Rajya Sabha.

Anna Hazare's crusade has aroused awareness against graft: Arun Jaitley

DEHRADUN: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley has said that the movement launched by veteran social activist Anna Hazare against corruption and nepotism in public life has aroused mass awareness.

"Every organisation has its rights. They can either support someone or not. But not going into facts, we believe awareness that the movement has created against corruption and those who indulge in corruption, we support that and from that angle consider it as a mass movement of the nation," Jaitley told the media here.

Applauding the Lokpal Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Government, Jaitley said such a body would enable the system to effectively investigate and punish those indulging in corruption.

"This unbiased and strong Lokpal, which can investigate and prosecute corrupt individuals, that spirit has been adapted under this law formed by the Uttarakhand government and the state legislature. The same spirit should be observed in other states and in the federal government," added Jaitley.

The Uttarakhand Lokpal Bill would now be sent to governor Margaret Alva for her assent and, after that, it will be implemented in the state within 180 days.

Focus on fight against graft, Arun Jaitley tells cadre

NEW DELHI: Gearing up for L K Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra that will begin from Sitabdiara in Bihar on October 11, BJP on Friday asked its cadre to ensure that it makes the most of the public mood against "corruption in government" and focus on setting the agenda on "good and clean governance".

"The political agenda in this country has converged to good governance... today, people set their own agenda," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, and cited the Anna Hazare and Ramdev fasts as examples in which people had gathered in support on their own. He was driving home the point that BJP needs to build its campaign against the government on the basis of this mood.

Jaitley was addressing representatives of state units at a workshop held here to ensure that BJP does not speak in different voices on various issues causing embarrassment to the party as well as diverting the focus from the purpose of the yatra.

Emphasising the need for "discipline" in the party during the yatra, he said, "We do not want our local leaders to speak a different language during the yatra. No personal opinion should be expressed. They should speak only on the issues which are on the agenda of the yatra."

He asked the state office-bearers who attended the workshop to ensure that those local leaders who speak at rallies where the yatra passes through do not deviate from the issues and say something that creates a controversy. "What local leaders say is also important. Anybody should not be allowed to speak (from a public platform) without knowing what he will say," he said.

This warning comes in the backdrop of occasions when the party has had to face embarrassment because even senior leaders have spoken out on issues against the party line.

Jaitley asked the party cadre, which will handle media affairs at different places during the 38-day yatra across 23 states and four Union Territories, not to be unsettled by press criticism during the yatra. "We do not have to set aside our agenda and have to work with a single-minded focus," Jaitley said, adding that criticism of the programme from some sections was unavoidable.

Speaking on issues to be raised during the yatra and why Advani decided to undertake this exercise, he said, "Not just the 2G spectrum and cash-for-vote scams but also the issues of black money stashed abroad and the need for electoral reforms will be highlighted."

Digvijay talks about Anna’s arrest; praises him

New Delhi: Days after describing Anna Hazare as an RSS mask, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh today called the Gandhian a ‘simple, good, well-meaning man’ and said the issue of his arrest should have been handled more tactfully.

“The matter (Anna’s arrest) should have been handled more tactfully. Anything else that I’ve to say about it, I’ll say it directly to my leader,” the Congress General Secretary said in an interview to Headlines Today.

“….When I say more tactfully I mean for example: why were the opposition parties not involved in the drafting process (of Lokpal). We made an unprecedented move, and we made it just out of respect for Anna. But why leave the opposition out, it made the BJP very angry,” he said.

Showering praise over the Gandhian, Singh said he is a simple man who has unknowingly fallen into the trap of RSS.

“I have known Anna from the time the media didn’t know him. I made him member Madhya Pradesh Planning Board. He did some great work. He is a simple, good, well-meaning man. But he has been misled. Anna has unwittingly become a front of the RSS. Anna is a Gandhian but he enjoys support of the RSS. I never called him an agent, but a front,” he clarified.

“He (Anna) has unwittingly fallen into that trap. Anna has been used by the RSS. I have letter of RSS support to Anna. They had RSS support, that now is an established fact,” the Congress leader said.

However, Singh did not tone down his tirade against Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal.

“I attacked double standards of Kejriwal. He took a study leave. He said he will return. Why did he not? He accepted donations from abroad while he was still a government servant.

Did he take permission from the government to start his NGO? He wants us to follow the rules, I think as a government employee he too should have followed them,” he said.

Singh also took a swipe at LK Advani over his proposed Rath Yatra saying he must start from Ahmedabad and take it through all BJP-ruled states to find out the “level of corruption that is there”.

Trashing Arun Jaitley’s jibe of too many lawyers advising the government, the Congress general secretary said, “If that’s a problem, then Arun Jaitley should stop advising the BJP.”

Dismissing BJP’s opposition to the proposed Communal Violence Bill as part of the party’s communal agenda, Singh said, “Communal disturbances happen due to inflammatory statements. Who gains the most from them? It’s the BJP.”

However, when asked about Mamata Banerjee’s note of dissent to the bill, Singh just said the content of the legislation can still be discussed.

He also came out strongly in support of beleaguered former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, saying, “I have full support for Amar Singh. He’ll prove his innocence. Every man is innocent until he is proven guilty.”

Even as he hit at some for making inflammatory speeches, he defended his tirade against RSS, saying he has never played politics over terror.

“I have never politicized the issue. I have always said religious fundamentalists give inflammatory speeches that incite terror. I have never interfered with a police probe.
Even in Batala House I questioned the encounter not the probe.”

Anna's stir awakened non-political class: BJP

The Baharatiya Janata Party on Sunday hailed Anna Hazare's agitation as one that had awakened even the non-political class and insisted that such movements also have a place in democracy as they serve to change the status quo. The BJP felt Anna Hazare's agitation had achieved much for democracy and empowerment of the people.

"This is a victory of democracy. It was a convergence of agitation on the street and debate in Parliament. People are feeling empowered after this which is a good thing," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. He maintained that this has strengthened the fight against corruption that his party is waging.


"We also feel elated as awakening of people by this agitation will lead to the non-political class also joining the political process. As Arun Jaitley [ Images ] said in Parliament, this movement was against the status quo. People want change," Javadekar said.

After some initial reluctance, the BJP had come out in open support of Hazare when he began his fast. It even went to the extent of fully endorsing the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"People are emboldened now as more and more skeletons are coming out of the cupboard of this government," Javadekar said.

Asked if this was truly a victory of Team Anna as several of its demands like keeping the prime minister under ambit of Lokpal, passing the Bill in this session, inclusion of higher judiciary and so on have not been met, BJP maintained that this agitation was about the larger issue of having a strong and effective Lokpal.

"Hazare has succeeded in sending a message to the people and brought them out on the streets. The issue here was also the disgust of the people against corruption. Such non-political agitations also have a place in democracy," Javadekar said.

Asked if Hazare's agitation had challenged the supremacy of Parliament, Javadekar said speaking or going against the established norms in not against democracy.

"Such aberrations happen in a democracy but one should look at the solutions it leads to. The movement also showed reasonableness. Restraint and reasonableness was shown by the middle class as well as the politicians and this is the beauty and strength of democracy," Javadekar said.