Hegde: New role

Patna, Aug. 31: Former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde is likely to draft Nitish Kumar’s bill for a strong Lokayukta in Bihar.

“Yes, I am willing to draft the Lokayukta bill for Bihar. I have been a Lokayukta and I am aware how a strong institution of Lokayukta can be made,” Hegde told The Telegraph over phone from Bangalore.

The judicial crusader has been requested by Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal to draft the Bihar bill at the behest of Supreme Court lawyer Shanti Bhushan.

“Kejriwal, on behalf of Shanti Bhushan, has asked me to write the Bihar Lokayukta bill and I am willing to do the job,” Hegde said. The former Supreme Court judge, however, added that he was yet to receive a formal request from the Nitish government for the work.

Sources close to the chief minister revealed that he first approached Bhushan to get Hegde to write the Bihar Lokayukta bill. “With Hegde willing to do the job, Nitish will soon send a formal invite to the former Karnataka Lokayukta,” said a source.

The BJP has chosen to watch how the situation unfolds, but a source said it would not be too happy with Hegde since he was instrumental in dethroning B.S. Yeddyurappa as chief minister of Karnataka after indicting him of corruption and nepotism. “After shutting the door on Narendra Modi, Nitish is now befriending the tormentor of another BJP chief minister,” pointed out a political observer.

Nitish is believed to be working hard — albeit tacitly — to put in place “a Lokayukta even stronger than the Anna Hazare-proposed Jan Lokpal bill” to pre-empt the Gandhian’s movement against corruption and set a model for the Lokpal to be adopted by Parliament.

Though a firm believer in the supremacy of Parliament, Nitish’s way to deal with the Hazare-led “storm” is said to be completely different from a large section of the NDA strategists, who favour a mechanism to tame the activist.

The chief minister, according to sources, feels that any move — even if an indirect one — to throttle Hazare’s movement could lead to the further denting of the image of lawmakers among the people. Moreover, the sources said, Nitish believes that the masses, particularly the younger generation and professionals, are getting disillusioned by the “very idea of government” and they would not stand by the forces adopting “tactics” to throttle Hazare’s movement.

Nitish recently said: “The leaders should read the writing on the wall.” And to a close aide, he confided: “If anything, the response to Anna Hazare’s movement has proved that the people in general are willing to have a strong legislation against corruption…they don’t want to compromise on the issue.”

But the Bihar chief minister also realises he would face stiff opposition not only from his party boss, Sharad Yadav, but a large section at the top level in the NDA too, because of Hegde’s role in bringing down Yeddyurappa. Nitish is also wary that “hardliners” in the NDA as well as the Congress would join hands against an “apolitical” Team Anna “dictating” legislation which have so far been the prerogative of elected lawmakers.

Sharad has questioned the Hazare movement and spoke against the activist in Parliament.

That is why, probably, Nitish is working tacitly with the Team Anna to bring about a strong Lokayukta legislation in the state.