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".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday targeted the United Progressive Alliance government over delay in bringing Lokpal Bill before the Rajya Sabha as the winter session is inching towards its end and demanded a reply.
The government on Tuesday wondered why Team Anna keeps on issuing warnings when the Centre has repeatedly announced its commitment to bring a strong Lokpal Bill at the earliest.
As the government prepares to bring the Lokpal Bill to the Cabinet, social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday pitched for a strong version of the law to be presented for the consideration of Parliament.
Amid the fresh controversy in the 2G spectrum case, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Friday said Home Minister P Chidambaram would have been behind bars had the Jan Lokpal legislation been in existence.
Ninety-four-year-old Gandhian Shambhu Dutt, who ended his fast-unto-death demanding Lokpal bill after Team Anna's promise to shoulder the campaign, says he now regrets his decision to hand over his fight to Anna Hazare and his core committee of "yes men".
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Tuesday said he welcomed the anti-corruption movements of Anna Hazare and Ramdev, but noted that Parliament has the sole authority to enact legislations, including the anti-corruption law.
The Lokpal drafting panel which was constituted with great difficulty will continue to function the way it is with Justice N Santhosh Hegde deciding to stay on in the panel. Hegde spoke with Vicky Nanjappa following his decision to stay on in the panel.
Hazare said he was giving the government six months time till August to come good on its assurance and warned that his protest will again begin in September if the demands were not met.
The new Lokpal Bill was introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal in Lok Sabha on Thursday after an hour-long acrimonious debate among members of various political parties.
Against the backdrop of indefinite fast by Anna Hazare coming to an end, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said the government is "much better equipped" now to deal with such situations even as he underlined that the Lokpal will be created before the 2014 elections.
Most of the parties concur with Hazare's demands for inclusion of Prime Minister, lower bureaucracy and CBI's anti-corruption wing under Lokpal. However, they did not favour bringing higher judiciary under the ombudsman and argued for a separate mechanism to check corruption in it.
The White Paper, which was tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, also did not provide government's estimate of black money, within and outside the country, though it quoted various estimates of other agencies on the issue.
After an impressive turnout on Sunday, the morning crowd at the fast venue of Jantar Mantar in New Delhi was just around 400 with organisers blaming the low turn out on rains and disruption in Metro services due to collapse of the Northern Power Grid. They said they expect the crowd to swell as the day progressed.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on the Lokpal issue ahead of the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting to finalise its report on the anti-corruption law.
The government may drop the clause on setting up of a Lokayukta in states in the Lokpal Bill to bring some opposition parties as also allies like Trinamool Congress on board.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday took a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying the country cannot run on 'Mohalla Sabhas' and a law cannot be decided on the streets.
Congress on Tuesday said it will not support the Jan Lokpal bill if it is brought by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi without following "constitutional norms".
Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday blamed the Congress-ed government and its allies for the chaos in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday night, which led to the adjournment of the House sine die without the passage of the Lokpal Bill. He lashed out at the Congress and its ally Trinamool congress for "engineering" a situation which made it impossible to transact any business.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress on Thursday night termed the developments in the Rajya Sabha while debating the Lokpal Bill as "orchestrated chaos" and a "black day" for democracy.
On the eve of consideration of Lokpal Bill by the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool Congress on Wednesday mounted difficulties on the government by giving notice for amendment to the crucial legislation in which it wants references to formation of Lokayuktas to be dropped.
Unhappy over content of the new Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it would move amendments on issues such as inclusion of the Central Bureau of Investigation and against reservation for minorities, when the proposed legislation comes up for consideration and passing in Parliament on Tuesday.
The new Lokpal Bill was on Thursday at the centre of a fresh controversy before its introduction in the Lok Sabha, with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen members protesting exclusion of minorities from the anti-graft bench of the proposed ombudsman.
A group of senior ministers On Monday "cleaned up" the draft of the changes in the Lokpal Bill, which Law Minister Salman Khurshid says will be introduced in Parliament during the current session.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday spurned Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's request for inputs on the proposed Lokpal Bill, arguing it would not be proper for a political party to submit its views to a drafting committee comprising civil society members as it would upset constitutional propriety.
The records of the debate are expected to be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee examining the Lokpal Bill
In its first press meet ever since the second phase of the budget session began in the Parliament a few days ago, Team Anna on Thursday laid out how it plans to exert pressure for a strong and independent Jan Lokpal Bill.
The Delhi assembly witnessed unprecedented noise and cacophony on Friday as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a fervent attempt to table the Jan Lokpal Bill.
The Parliamentary panel scrutinising the Lokpal Bill is likely to submit its report early next month and the redrafted legislation will be "far superior" to anything that has been proposed so far, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said on Sunday.
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Lokpal Abhishek Singhvi on Thursday refused to set a deadline for finalising its crucial report but insisted that the panel was working on the issue with unparallel swiftness.
Seeking to galvanise public opinion in favour of its version of Lokpal Bill, the Anna Hazare team on Thursday initiated a "referendum" on the law in Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency represented by Human Resources and Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
In a total anti-climax, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday adjourned abruptly without passing the Lokpal Bill in the midst of uproar after government sought more time for considering enormous number of amendments.
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.
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.
As he prepares to go on a three-day fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare and his team on Sunday shot off an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and MPs urging them to make the best possible law which includes provisions for an independent investigative wing for the ombudsman.
The ministers' draft of the Lokpal Bill has to be judged on the criteria whether it can subserve the object sought to be achieved, writes Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) Arun Jaitley.
Anna Hazare is likely to be present in the viewers' gallery of the Parliament when the Lokpal Bill would be tabled and discussed, sources close to him said in Mumbai on Friday.
Dalit leader Udit Raj, who is campaigning against Team Anna's version of the Lokpal Bill, on Tuesday demanded that corporates, NGOs and media should be brought under the anti-corruption ombudsman to make the law "more effective". "If there is no representation of plurality, I don't think this law will be successful," the National Chairman of All India Confederation of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Organisations said.
Activist Anna Hazare on Saturday blamed Rahul Gandhi for encouraging Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, chairman of the Standing Committee of Law and Justice, Public Grievances and Personnel, for overlooking the letter written by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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