Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary (left) presents a bouquet to JD(U) MP Sharad Yadav in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Sept. 27: JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav today reiterated his stand on the agitation launched by social activist Anna Hazare to bring in a stronger Lokpal bill.

Yadav said that he was “really disappointed” when some people criticised his Parliament speech on the Lokpal Bill.

“I spoke on behalf of Parliament and whatever I said, I stand by it. There are certain forces who are making efforts to malign the image of politicians and parliamentary institution, which is not acceptable at all. But let me tell them that nothing is going to happen because Parliament is supreme,” said Yadav on the concluding day of a two-day orientation programme for state legislators.

“Do you think that it was possible for them (Anna & team) to hold a dharna in the heart of the national capital without the consent of the political leaders like us. No it was not. All changes in the nation have been brought through Parliament,” he added.

Sharad, during his speech in Parliament last month, had slammed the presence of huge crowd at Ramlila ground in support of Anna Hazare. He had said: “People were eating gol-gappa, roaming with their dogs at India Gate and suddenly they decided to visit the Ramlila ground.”

He had also said that that it was because of the persistent effort of Parliament that a number of scams, like 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Society came to the fore and the government was compelled to act tough against the tainted persons.

Yadav claimed that many bureaucrats, ministers and MPs have been sent behind bars by Parliament. “Till now, 27 high-profile people, including bureaucrats, ministers and MPs, have been sent behind bars. It was the continuous effort of parliamentarians who made strict laws against corrupt people. In a similar way, the lawmakers will fight against all evils… For every problem, Parliament is the solution,” he said.

He also criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for defending Union home minister P. Chidambaram in 2G scam row. “The Prime Minister must act with modesty to protect the people, institutions and the country instead of protecting the minister. Even the Prime Minister can’t escape from his responsibility, particularly, because the name of Chidambaram had cropped up in the scam. He should soon decide on the matter,” Sharad said.

Newly elected MLAs and MLCs appreciated the orientation programme, “It has given us a great opportunity to learn something from our seniors. Now, when we will attend the Assembly proceedings, we will be more confident while asking questions from the Speaker,” said Chitranjan Kumar, BJP MLA from Arwal constituency.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar was also scheduled to address the MLAs. However, in the last minute, Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary declared that Nitish will not be able to attend the programme.