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Congress hopes consensus on Election Commission-like ‘Lokpal’

The idea was first mooted by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi during a debate in parliament and endorsed by Union law minister Salman Khurshid recently.

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The Congress is very positive on the proposed Lokpal getting a constitutional status on the lines of the Election Commission. “If the government is proposing this, then we do not expect other political parties to oppose it,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Wednesday.

The idea was first mooted by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi during a debate in parliament and endorsed by Union law minister Salman Khurshid recently.

However, Anna Hazare’s group, which has been demanding that its Jan Lokpal bill be passed by parliament in toto, has dismissed the suggestion as a delay tactics adopted by the government.

However, Singhvi who also chairs the parliamentary standing committee that is seized with the bill denied the allegation. “Why have such doubts? If there is unanimity among political parties then why should it lead to any delay?” he said. 

The proposal now seems to be gathering momentum as two former chief justices of the Supreme Court — JS Verma and MN Venkatachaliah — are scheduled to appear before the standing committee on Thursday, and in all likely would discuss this issue.

The Congress believes that no political party would oppose the move to elevate Lokpal to the constitutional status merely because the idea has been mooted by Rahul Gandhi. “This would defeat their entire political argument on the issue of corruption,” a senior Congress MP said.

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