Was Rajya Sabha drama an eyewash to prevent Lokpal Bill?

The act of tearing the copy of Lokpal Bill in Parliament by RJD minister Rajniti Prasad during the debate, has left the public shocked. This ultimately derailed the process of passing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, which many feel was an orchestrated act. Speak Up brings you reactions of citizens

It is shameful that people’s representatives refuse to listen to voices of those who elect them
Anna always used to say, Sarkar ki niyat saf nahi and the government proved it in Rajya Sabha. It shows that the government is not willing to curb corruption and don’t want any authority like Lokpal to keep a check on what they do. Once again, the elected representatives have been successful to postpone the issue of Lokpal, assuming that people’s interest will wane away. In the Rajya Sabha session, when the government failed to provoke the opposition, they orchestrated to stop the proceedings by the RJD MP drama. What happened with the Women’s Reservation Bill, the same was repeated with the Lokpal Bill. 

It is very surprising to see why our elected representatives are so unwilling to pass a law against corruption and repeatedly ignore what people want. Our parliamentary process has reached a new low, by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP (Member of Parliament) Rajniti Prasad acting in such a manner. All this is surely raising serious concerns and citizens are bound to react and seek other alternatives. It is very shameful that in a democratic set-up, people’s representatives refuse to listen to voices of those who elect them. 

—Aniket Deshmukh, software engineer

Politicians are playing a double game by toying with the bill, which is delaying the process
Basically, the elected representatives don’t want any other higher authority to control their behaviour. They have been debating that the present Lokpal Bill is not fit for our democracy. They keep coming up with some or other excuses to block the bill. The Bharatiya Janata Party is taking a moral stand by saying that Lokpal must be given a constitutional status and should be strong. They are just projecting that they want a strong Lokpal, but the real aim is to keep it weak.

The Congress differed completely on Lokpal, but was pressured by public to at least bring it in a draft form and pass it in the lower house. Each party is showing their support for a strong Lokpal, but are also giving reasons for not passing it. They are playing a double game by toying with the bill. In the blame game, the essence of Lokpal Bill is getting lost. There is no consensus or rather, the politicians deliberately don’t want to reach to a conclusion. The electoral pressure might force the government to pass the Lokpal Bill, but it will be a weak one.

—Vidyabhushan Arya, faculty, MIT School of Government 

The time is ripe to build momentum and send ethical-minded people to Parliament
This winter session has seen a poor quality of debate and disgraceful manner in which our elected representatives have conducted themselves in Parliament. This has made India a laughing stock of the world on important matters of
national governance.

It is now publicly evident that not only the MPs in coalition with UPA government, but even those from the opposition parties resent an effective anti-corruption law to keep a check on their nefarious ways. Each of them is so full of rot that in the event of a strong Lokpal panel, half of the current crop of politicians could end up in Tihar jail.

Two things are clear: One, that the time is ripe to build momentum to send ethical-minded people to Parliament, which is our collective duty. Two, it is time that Team Anna enters electoral politics by lending support to a clean and progressive political party and back enlightened candidates if it does not want the
movement to loose steam over a period of time.

—Girish Deshpande, spokesperson, Professionals Party of India (PPI)

The whole act of RJD MP tearing the bill in Parliament looked orchestrated to me
Considering the incident in Rajya Sabha session during the Lokpal Bill discussion and the way proceedings went, it shows that none of the Parliament members acted responsibly or had any will to pass the bill.

There are many clauses that can be amended in the Lokpal Bill, which is a different issue. There was no will among the representatives of the house to take a concrete decision.

The whole proceeding looked orchestrated and choreographed to me. Suddenly the mayhem started with RJD MP tearing the bill copy. Frankly speaking, the Lokpal Bill met the same fate as Women’s Reservation Bill. Due to people’s pressure, the parties just wanted to bring the Lokpal Bill in the Parliament but were in no mood to let the bill pass.

It seems that every political party is just trying to gain some mileage. How can an RJD member, whose strength is just 2% in the house, can object and react in such a way without anyone in the house objecting to his behaviour?  

—Sanjay Karwade, doctor

RJD MP’s behaviour clearly shows lack of respect for parliamentary proceedings
It is very sad that the Lokpal Bill was not passed in the Rajya Sabha session. Basically, it shows that the political leaders don’t want the Lokpal. More than 150 amendments were suggested in the present Lokpal Bill, which must be looked into immediately and the bill must be again presented in the next Rajya Sabha session.

The RJD MP, who tore and threw the bill copy while the Rajya Sabha was in session, shows complete lack of respect for Parliament and democracy. This behaviour is not expected from a senior elected representative of the upper house. RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav was any ways against the bill in any form, and his party member’s act clearly shows their dissent.

—Hemant Naik, Pune citizen