Manmohan calls for all-party meeting on Wednesday to ensure passage of Lokpal Bill by Dec 22
In a no-holds-barred attack on the Congress and the central government on the eve of his day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, Anna Hazare Saturday accused them of betraying the country on the Lokpal issue. He voiced his suspicions over Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s role in the government’s backtracking on its promises made before the Parliament’s Standing Committee.
The septuagenarian sounded a fresh warning to the Congress-led UPA government stating that he would go on an indefinite fast starting December 27 at Ramlila Maidan if the latter fails to pass a strong Lokpal bill and would also campaign against them in the five poll-bound states.
“The government has betrayed the entire country. I will also campaign against them (Congress) in a run-up to the next general elections (Lok Sabha polls) if they don’t bring in a strong Lokpal bill. The struggle will continue until we get a strong anti-corruption bill,” Hazare said.
“Tomorrow’s fast is to protest against the Standing Committee… We suspect Rahul Gandhi is behind the government going back on its promises on Lokpal. Who else is more senior?” Hazare said.
Hazare said the prime minister had sent him a letter agreeing to his three demands so as to get him to break his fast in August, but the standing committee has denied having received any such letter. “How is this possible? The poor people will not get justice unless the lower bureaucracy comes under the Lokpal,” he added.
Stating that the government’s Lokpal will increase corruption, Hazare said: “This government is intoxicated by power and money. It cannot see anything else. It is our job to bring them to their senses.”
He appealed to people to fast in their homes to show solidarity against the government, saying that people of the country would teach the government a lesson.
Hazare, along with his team - Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar - also punched holes in the standing committee’s report on Lokpal. They stated that the report prepared under the chairmanship of Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi is nothing but an eyewash.
Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan said the standing committee was trying to fool and confuse people. They said there was no point in having a Lokpal that has no investigative powers and is restricted to the role of just a clerk.
Kejriwal said they had presented 34 points to the standing committee, out of which the latter agreed to just one which is about making Lokpal a constitutional authority. Rahul Gandhi had called making Lokpal a constitutional authority a game-changer idea during his statement in the Lok Sabha.
Kejriwal also added that they had sent letters to all political parties to discuss the Lokpal bill in front of everyone at Jantar Mantar, but Congress has refused to come and join the forum. He said that senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, CPI (M)’s Brinda Karat, CPI’s AB Bardhan, JDU’s Sharad Yadav, BJD’s Pinaki Mishra, TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu, and Nikhil Dey from Aruna Roy-led National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) would be joining the debate at Jantar Mantar.
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