India
Congress came out in support of party general secretary asking what crime he has committed by airing his opinion on the issue.
Updated : Apr 18, 2011, 07:53 PM IST
Unfazed by Gandhian Anna Hazare's complaint to party chief Sonia Gandhi on Lokpal Bill, Congress today came out in support of party general secretary Digvijay Singh asking what crime he has committed by airing his opinion on the issue.
"He has been chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms. He is a responsible leader in political and social field. Has he committed a crime?" party spokesperson Manish Tewari asked.
He was replying to a barrage of questions on Hazare's letter to Gandhi in which he complained that "corrupt forces" have united to derail the process of drafting an effective Lokpal bill.
The refrain of Tewari was "in a democracy everybody is entitled to articulate his or her views. This course in democracy is not a one way affair.If in a democracy, if you cannot place your views in public space, it will spell death of democracy."
He also sought to fault Hazare and his supporters for not maintaining the sanctity of the debriefing process.
On the issue the controversial CD relating to one of the joint committee members Shanti Bhushan, Tewari said police have already lodged an FIR into the matter. "I have nothing to add or subtract," he said.
As the war over the alleged fake CD involving eminent lawyer and panel co-chair Shanti Bhushan intensified, Hazare said one of the strategies of the corrupt forces is to "smear the reputations" of civil society members in the committee.
Hazare, who is leading a campaign for a strong anti-graft legislation, today wrote a two-page letter to Gandhi, making veiled references to Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who has been attacking him, and to HRD minister Kapil Sibal, and asked her to advise her "colleagues" not to try to derail the process of drafting of law.