Will fight for strong Lokpal. Parties at Anna’s debate

Mangalore Today / NDTV

New Delhi, Dec 11:  Anna Hazare’s team wanted the nitty gritty of the Lokpal Bill discussed at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. A group of seasoned politicians from across parties accepted the invitation to speak at the venue of Anna Hazare’s token one-day fast, but left with an emphatic message - "Those details are the prerogative of the Parliament. Leave it to Parliament. We’ll ensure that a strong, independent Lokpal Bill is passed."

 

 

 

They did promise that they would ensure no dilution in the bill, that they were committed to a strong Lokpal. In the words of the BJD’s Pinaki Mishra, "The sentiments of the people will be kept in mind while framing the law." He joined Sharad Yadav of the JDU to suggest that the bill should not be rushed through, and must be put to sufficient debate in Parliament, even if it means extending the current session or calling a special session. Left leaders said there was a Parliamentary process to frame law and that could not be circumvented. They also reassured the people gathered that a standing committee report tabled two days ago was not the last word on the law that would eventually be framed.

Team Anna argued that "the Devil was in the details." Good host Anna saw his guests off with a smile and an invitation, "We will go to jail if necessary; we will go the streets to seek a strong Lokpal; do join us there if key provisions are not made law." And when they left, he told his supporters, "We trust Parliament, but politicians should remember that we sent them to Parliament to serve us. The people are their masters. The government must serve the people." He also said that the right to reject and the right to recall were crucial elements of a true republic.

 

 

Anna’s fast ended a little before 5 pm after a long speech in which he took the government to task, singled out Home Minister P Chidambaram for criticism and for the second time in 24 hours attacked Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of bringing pressure on the Parliament panel to dilute the Bill’s provisions like the inclusion of the PM within the ambit of the Lokpal. "Rahul Gandhi is a young man, I have nothing against him. He dreams of being PM but he has to do a lot for that. He has to make sacrifices. It is not enough to spend a night in a hut. He must spend many nights in a hut."

Anna had invited all political parties to debate key provisions of the Lokpal Bill, saying he wanted the nation to rise against a weak anti-corruption or Lokpal Bill, to be discussed soon in Parliament before it is made the law. All major parties, mainly from the Opposition, participated. The Congress said the debate was an "insult to Parliament" and refused to attend. "The Lokpal Bill cannot be made at Jantar Mantar," said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi.

The government will instead review the bill at a Cabinet meet on Tuesday, followed by a meeting with key allies on the same day. After that, an all-party meet will be held on the bill, also on Wednesday. The Congress says that is the appropriate process for discussing the draft of new legislation. The Congress sent a letter excusing itself and suggesting that such a debate was premature since Parliament would discuss it soon.

The Lokpal refers to a new ombudsman agency with nine members that will have the right to investigate corruption charges against government servants. A Parliamentary committee has tabled a draft of the Lokpal Bill that says 57 lakh junior bureaucrats and the Prime Minister should not fall under the review of the Lokpal. And the CBI, when investigating charges of corruption, should be supervised by but not be accountable to the Ombudsman. These are must-have powers for the Lokpal, in Team Anna’s opinion, and it is points like these that were talked about by the representatives of political parties. All of them tore apart the standing committee’s recommendations.

Onstage at Jantar Mantar, the BJP’s Arun Jaitley backed Team Anna’s demand for inclusion of the PM. So did leaders of other political parties. They spoke in one voice on the inclusion of the lower bureaucracy too. It was on one Anna’s main sticking point, the inclusion of the CBI, that there were different voices. The BJP leader did not, however, offer outright support to Team Anna on the sticking point of including the CBI. Investigative powers of the CBI must be freed from supervision by the government, Mr Jaitley said, and the agency’s administrative powers should come under the Lokpal. Left leaders suggested that the CBI report in to the Lokpal in toto. Misuse of the CBI by the government was a leitmotif in the speech of leader after leader. The Left also supported Team Anna on demands like the citizen’s charter.

But when the politicians, like the Left’s AB Bardhan or the Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, or even Nikhil Dey an activist from Aruna Roy’s NCPRI, took a stand different from Team Anna, the crowds booed them. They booed D Raja for speaking in English. This was clearly Anna Hazare’s turf and contrary opinions were unwelcome, reinforcing the criticism that Team Anna often seems to want to dictate all terms and is intolerant of differences and dissent.

Leaders like Mr Bardhan and Mr Yadav also did not endear themselves for suggesting that Team Anna should be less rigid on every demand being met. "All politicians are not corrupt...You cannot say that anyone that does not accept every comma or full stop of your Jan Lokpal Bill supports corruption," Mr Bardhan said.

This was Anna’s third fast this year for the Lokpal bill, and his doctors were worried about his health. But on arriving in Delhi yesterday, Anna told reporters he is fighting fit. "Don’t you see the glow on my face?" he asked.

The 74-year-old began the day with a ritualistic visit to Rajghat where he meditated at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial and was at his protest camp at Jantar Mantar by 10.30 am; he declared "Vande Mataram," national flags streamed around him; so did the patriotic songs that are used by his activists to motivate and entertain the 6,000 supporters while Anna fasts.

There was another agenda for today’s protest - Team Anna wanted to test-drive public sentiment ahead of a longer and more rigorous protest scheduled to begin on December 27. National endorsement of - and participation in - Anna’s last hunger strike in August led to Parliament agreeing that Anna’s basic principles for a new law against graft would be studied immediately. Except that the report on the Lokpal Bill delivered by the Parliamentary committee two days ago has been rejected by Anna as "a betrayal of the people."

"This is not Anna’s voice against the government," said a young naval officer in Mumbai. "This is India’s voice against corruption."

In Anna’s hometown of Ralegan Siddhi, a group of people held a satellite fast and amid much criticism that Team Anna’s younger members do not joint Anna on his hunger strike, three activists - Vishwas Mohan, Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal - were fasting today.