Satyavrat Chaturvedi said he felt ashamed at some of the utterances of party leaders on Hazare.
Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi Wednesday slammed his party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's handling of the Anna Hazare fast and said its actions showed a drift from ground realities. He also called on Hazare's side to not be obstinate.
Participating in a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the growing incidence of corruption in the country, Chaturvedi said he felt ashamed at some of the utterances of party leaders on Hazare.
"I have respect for Hazare. I feel sad that some of us made irresponsible statements. I feel ashamed about it," Chaturvedi said, apparently referring to remarks by party leaders Manish Tewari, Virbhadra Singh and Kapil Sibal.
While Tewari had accused Hazare of being involved in corruption from "head to toe," Virbhadra Singh had said that even a "madari (street performer)" can collect crowds. Sibal had termed Hazare fast as “undemocratic and unconstitutional".
Chaturvedi said an entire session was wasted on the demand for joint parliamentary committee on 2G spectrum scam but the government acceded to the demand later. He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been kept out of the ambit of Lokpal in the bill presented by the government in Parliament but he had learnt that the position was being changed.
"If the logic of (prime minister's) non-inclusion was correct, then why the position has been changed. If logic of inclusion was correct, than why reasons were given for the non-inclusion," he asked.
"It means moving away from ground realities and the government not able to take steps that are needed to enhance its prestige among people," he added.
He said there was nothing wrong in accepting one's faults. "It shows that we are ready to change and improve,” he said.
Referring to Hazare's fast, he said Hazare did not sit on fast suddenly, adding the all-party meeting convened by the government Wednesday should have been convened earlier.
He said the fast could have been avoided if a "joint parliamentary delegation had gone to Anna Hazare to tell him that on one hand there is the constitution and on the other side is your insistence."
"Then it wouldn't have been government versus Anna Hazare or Anna versus Congress, it would have been Anna versus the Constitution," he said.
He also called upon Team Hazare to listen to other's points of view.
The Congress leader said if parliament doesn't become cautious about its rights to frame and pass laws, then other issues will be raised.
“Government caught in a captive situation is not good for democracy,” he said.
Calling upon Team Hazare not to be obstinate, he said such a situation should not be created which becomes difficult to control.
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