New Delhi, Nov. 7: The government is buoyed by the lack of support for the “Jan Lokpal bill” among experts and activists, and is gearing to introduce its own version without losing sleep over the threats of bigger agitations.
The Centre’s eagerness to pass the Lokpal bill in the winter session of Parliament has been evident in Pranab Mukherjee’s appeal to non-Congress members of the House standing committee to ensure that its report is submitted in time.
Not all the panel’s recommendations may be accepted, but the government has taken heart from the developments during the committee’s talks with various groups.
“We have interacted with more than 20 groups as well as constitutional experts, former Supreme Court chief justices and political parties, but none has so far supported the Jan Lokpal draft,” a standing committee member told The Telegraph.
“Not a single soul wants us to adopt the Team Anna version as it is. On the contrary, most of those we have interacted with have serious objections to vital clauses of that draft.”
Another member said: “Experts have objected to the inclusion of the judiciary, lower bureaucracy and the Prime Minister without adequate safeguards.”
The member added: “We realised during the deliberations that there was wider acceptability of the government’s draft, of course with certain changes. Many civil society groups have rejected some of Team Anna’s key suggestions. They (Hazare associates) should realise that their boast of having nationwide backing is false.”
Rahul Gandhi’s suggestion about making the Lokpal a constitutional body has found wide support and the government is working on the idea.
By declaring its intent to make new legislation to address corruption in the lower bureaucracy, the Centre has made it clear that the Lokpal’s ambit will be restricted to the higher echelons. Nor will the judiciary be included.
No decision has been taken on the Prime Minister but if the post is included, there will be strong safeguards.
Law ministry sources said Team Anna’s suggestion to merge the CBI with the Lokpal has found no support, either.
Even the CBI has said that if its anti-corruption wing is merged with the Lokpal, it cannot be left to probe petty murder and theft cases that the police normally look after. The government, on the contrary, plans to give the CBI greater autonomy.
On the whole, the Centre doesn’t plan to accommodate much of Team Anna’s views beyond the point reached at the joint drafting committee.
The government and the Congress believe that tackling Team Anna will become easier as, according to them, it is becoming clearer by the day that the group is working on a political agenda devised by the RSS.
Congress leaders claim the group’s “real intent” has been exposed through its decision to enter the electoral battlefield in Hisar and in next year’s Assembly polls.
Party leaders allege that Hazare had to change his plan of not campaigning against the Congress only because the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are crucial for the BJP.
Congress leaders point to Hazare’s enthusiastic response to BJP-ruled Uttarakhand’s “opportunistic” adoption of his version of the Lokayukta, and question Team Anna’s silence on the BJP government’s “looting” of the state.
They say Hazare and his team plan to highlight the BJP’s positive aspects and ignore the skeletons in its cupboard. Few in the Congress mind this, saying such behaviour can only bring Hazare’s credibility under a cloud.
Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed argued that Team Anna had escaped with its “duplicity” in Hisar but the people of the five poll-bound states are bound to ask uncomfortable questions as they know whose corruption is hurting them.
