Torn from all sides, Lokpal bill awaits final show

The three-day debate and voting in the two Houses of parliament from December 27 will not just be about rhetorical pyrotechnics of the kind RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav displayed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday in the debate preceding introduction of the revised Lokpal Bill. There are now clear divisions among the parties on contentious provisions of the bill.

The BJP, with its clear right-wing majoritarian outlook, will move an amendment to the provision providing reservation for religious minorities in the composition of the Lokpal.

But the amendment will be defeated because the Congress-led UPA will vote for it. So will the RJD and Samajwadi Party (SP) which had vehemently supported reservation for minorities, especially Muslims, in the Lokpal. It is possible that the Akali Dal might support the government because it would not like to be seen as going against the interests of religious minorities.

The other contentious issue is that of bringing the CBI under the purview of the Lokpal. The bill keeps the administrative setup of the CBI with the government while the agency will have to investigate and report to the Lokpal on the corruption cases referred to it by the ombudsman. On this issue, the BJP, the CPI-M and the BSP will vote together on the amendment seeking inclusion of the CBI under the Lokpal.

The other issue is that concerning lokayuktas, the counterpart of the Lokpal in the states, which is now provided for in the new bill. The BJP would oppose it in a limited sense, seeking that the provision should be made optional and not mandatory for the states. The BJD and the AIADMK want the Lokayuktas section dropped from the bill.

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that it is for the members of the House to decide what kind of Lokpal legislation they would like to pass. This is an indirect indication that the government has kept its promise of bringing in a Lokpal Bill and that it has done so. Whether it can be passed or not will now depend on the political stance of the parties in parliament.

Anna Hazare and his associates will have to wait and watch as political parties strategise and decide on what provisions in the bill to support and what provisions to oppose.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh indication in the all-party meeting last Saturday that there should be consensus in parliament over Lokpal will be smashed into smithereens on the rocks of political stances of the parties, each fighting for its own position.