Rubbishing Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's contention that the Lokpal bill under consideration in Parliament was weak, activist Anna Hazare has said that "if anyone feels there are shortcomings in the bill after it is passed, they should fast for it."
Announcing his agitation, Hazare has asked the Centre to "show courage" in bringing in the bill in the Winter session of Parliament, beginning from December 5.
A Team Anna member said the working group of the Team Anna met to discuss the situation against the backdrop of the moves by the government
The Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to skip the all party meeting on Lokpal convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 3, a party source has said.
Janata Party chief Dr Subramanian Swamy slammed Team Anna on Thursday for 'insisting a new law to deal with corruption and bring the premier investigating agency under the Lokpal'. The government's Lokpal Bill is likely to be introduced in the Parliament on Thursday afternoon, which has already been opposed by Team Anna.
Underlining the role of civil society movement led by Anna Hazare in drafting the Lokpal bill, President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said this was the first time that a law was made with public participation, hitherto an exclusive domain of legislature.
Demanding a strong Lokpal bill against corruption, nine non-National Democratic Alliance opposition parties including the Left, Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal on Tuesday staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament.
No consensus was reached at the all party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Lokpal issue.
In a fresh bid to end the deadlock over Lokpal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the proposed legislation, which could not be passed on the last day of the winter session in Rajya Sabha amid pandemonium.
As Anna Hazare's fast entered the fifth day, his team on Saturday demanded early introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament and said government can get it passed in days if it has the will.
A new Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and the existing one withdrawn.
Veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday accused the United Progressive Alliance government of stabbing in his back on the issue of Lokpal Bill and once again threatened hunger strike from October 2 to press for a strong anti-corruption law.
The Rajya Sabha Select Committee, chaired by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi, will have its first meeting in New Delhi on Monday to narrow down differences among political parties on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill.
Team Anna on Wednesday voiced hope that the government will deliver on Sonia Gandhi's promise of bringing a strong Lokpal bill in Winter Session of Parliament or else, the activists warned, they will hit the streets again.
On the eve of introduction of a new Lokpal bill in Parliament, Shiv Sena on Wednesday appealed to political parties to stop a "new Gaddafi" from taking birth.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apparently to discuss the Lokpal issue.
"We will wait for the passing of the bill till the current session of Parliament comes to an end in May. If it does not happen we will have another one and half year before the next general elections are held."
The bill on separate Telangana could rock the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha beginning Wednesday with several parties asking the government to first get the Vote on Account passed before taking up any other legislation.
"I have a given a notice for discussion on Lokpal in the Rajya Sabha. The Business Advisory Committee will decide on the date for discussion," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy told PTI.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has criticised Team Anna for pressuring Parliament to get the Lokpal Bill passed. "More than a Lokpal, we need a hangman to execute Afzal Guru, convicted in Parliament attack case," the Sena chief said.
The government draft on the Lokpal Bill, which is expected to be considered by the Cabinet this week, does not include the prime minister in the purview of the ombudsman but the final call on the ticklish issue will be taken by Parliament and its Standing Committee. Disclosing this, Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Bill will be introduced in Parliament in the monsoon session starting on August 1.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Wednesday said that the debate on Lokpal Bill does not have any link with the Election Process as the model code of conduct does not apply to Parliament.
Team Anna member N Santosh Hegde on Sunday saluted Parliament for rising to the occasion and giving its nod to key elements of Jan Lokpal Bill, but cautioned that people should "not expect a miracle" as enacting the legislation will "take its own time".
Bringing Rahul Gandhi in the line of fire, Anna Hazare on Friday alleged that Congress might have taken a U-turn on contentious issues of lower bureaucracy and Central Bureau of Investigation in Lokpal under his instructions and claimed that the government was delaying resolution of Foreign Direct Investment (in retail) imbroglio to avoid passing Jan Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Sparks are expected to fly when the government introduces the Lokpal Bill and the Food Security Bill in Parliament on Thursday.
Dismissing suggestions that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's idea of giving constitutional status to Lokpal Bill was a delaying tactic by the Congress, the ruling party made it clear that it was for the collective wisdom of the Standing Committee and Parliament to accept the proposal.
Admitting that the government was in a "bind" from which it has to come out, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night said that "practical and pragmatic" solutions have to be found to the Lokpal issue.
The Congress party, which seems to be short of the numbers to shepherd the Lokpal bill though the Rajya Sabha, is trying desperately to avoid voting on the bill in the upper house as the debate over the bill winds down in Parliament on Wednesday evening.
The Congress Party deserves no pity because it got caught in its own web of deceit. They created a product they did not want and ensured nobody bought it. Sheela Bhatt reports.
With the opposition parties closing ranks to raise the heat on price rise and other issues, the Congress on Friday appealed to them to allow smooth functioning of Parliament to pass key bills including Lokpal.
There are alternatives that are preferable to the octopus like Jan Lokpal being proposed. Extremism, whether the Gandhian excess of non-violence or obsession with environment at cost of everything else is dangerous in the long run, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
As it finalises the Lokpal Bill for moving it in Parliament next week, government is open to many suggestions made at the all-party meet, including bringing the prime minister under the purview of the ombudsman with certain safeguards and 50 per cent quota for SCs, STs and others.
On the eve of Anna Hazare's fast against the "weak" Lokpal Bill, the government on Monday asked him to wait for the outcome of Parliament's debate on the legislation on Tuesday before launching his agitation.
With uncertainty looming over the fate of the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, the United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday hoped that all allies will come around and help in its passage so that possibility of convening a Joint Session of Parliament does not arise.
Immediately after Parliament agreed to Anna Hazare's three key demands on Lokpal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday sent him a letter conveying the same and urged the Gandhian to give up his 12-day fast. "As you know, Parliament today discussed Lokpal related issues. You will be happy to know that both Houses of Parliament have passed a resolution on the three points raised by you," Dr Singh said in the letter which was handed over to Hazare.
While the Centre said that the amendment bill is pending in Parliament to include the leader of largest opposition party, a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said that Parliament, by not amending the law, cannot frustrate the mandate for appointment of Lokpal.
Slamming Team Anna for burning copies of the Lokpal Bill, government on Thursday said actions of the civil society members was an insult to Parliament and posed a danger to democracy.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday night said Anna Hazare will postpone his protests if Parliament session is extended to introduce and get the Lokpal Bill passed.
With the threat of Anna Hazare's agitation looming large, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting next week to evolve a broad consensus on the Lokpal Bill and ensure its passage during the current session of Parliament that ends on December 22. Before the all-party meeting, the United Progressive Alliance allies will hold confabulations among themselves on December 13 to devise a common strategy and speak in one voice in Parliament.
In an apparent dig at Anna Hazare's campaign for Jan Lokpal Bill, National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy on Monday said one has the right to dissent in a democracy but not to overrule the functioning of Parliament and its multifarious structures.
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