All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, addressed the Parliament on Lokpal issue on Friday during the Zero Hour. Addressing, the Lok Sabha, the Gandhi scion said, "the fight against corruption needs a strong political will." Rahul Gandhi also thanked Anna for creating awareness on the issue of corruption.
Hectic efforts to break the deadlock over Lokpal were on for the second day on Wednesday as Team Anna presented a fresh draft for consideration by the government.
Terming the Lokpal Bill approved by the Union Cabinet as an "eyewash", rights activist Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said it will "patronise" corruption and should be withdrawn. "The Bill approved by the Cabinet is to patronise corruption and an eyewash and it should be withdrawn. It betrays the aspirations and expectations of people fighting against corruption," Kejriwal told reporters.The government, he said, seemed to be in the "grip of the corrupt."
"The absence of MPs will be taken note of very seriously by the Congress leadership and the parliamentary party leadership. Action will be taken against the MPs who were absent despite phone calls and SMSes issued to them," Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, who piloted the bills in Lok Sabha, said on Wednesday.
"Had we not been confident, we would not have introduced it," he told reporters while entering Parliament just ahead of the consideration of the crucial bill by the Lok Sabha.
The government will wait and see what the majority of MPs and political parties have to say once the bill comes to the floor for discussion. Renu Mittal reports.
A meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Anna Hazare is expected soon despite differences between Congress and the civil society over the issue of Lokpal Bill. An indication to this effect was given by a senior party leader who declined to be identified.
Amid sharp differences between representatives of government and civil society, the two sides will meet on Monday in a last ditch attempt to resolve contentious issues and hammer out a consensus on Lokpal Bill.
In a bid to build pressure on the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Anna Hazare has decided to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi if the panel does not come up with strong recommendations on Lokpal Bill.
Civil society activists led by social activist Anna Hazare on Monday boycotted the meeting of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill saying government's intentions raised serious doubts about having a strong anti-corruption watchdog and protesting against the police crackdown on Ramdev.
While the United Progressive Alliance ties itself up in knots, two out of every three Indians say the prime minister and the higher judiciary should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal, an issue that has seen the UPA government differing with civil society representatives.
As serious differences over various provisions marred the drafting of the Lokpal Bill, civil society members on Wednesday invited government nominees for a public debate on contentious issues, which could be telecast live on TV.
In the 243-member Rajya Sabha, Congress and its allies do not not have a majority with its number placed at 92 and needs the support of the MPs of these parties supporting the government from outside.
Talks on the Lokpal Bill are not progressing as expected and if the attitude of the government does not change it may spell disaster soon, said Prashant Bhushan, one of the five members of the Anna Hazare-led civil society group, who is on the drafting panel of the Bill.
The differences between the Congress and the BJP are too obvious and it seems, as expected, this Parliament is a divided house on the issue of fighting corruption.
Justice Santosh Hegde on Saturday indicated that he may not resign from the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the government was looking forward to enacting a strong anti-corruption legislation.
Unable to comprehend the deliberations in English in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has sought an interpreter for himself from the next meeting.
The joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill on Saturday had its first meeting when civil society representatives presented a new draft of the legislation to the government with both sides expressing hope that the new law will be brought in the monsoon session of Parliament.
The notification, one of the key demands of the anti-corruption campaign launched by Gandhian Anna Hazare, has been signed by V K Bhasin, Secretary, Legislative Department of the law ministry.
Meetings of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill slated for June 20 and 21 would be a mere formality with little scope for discussion, Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the panel Santosh Hegde said on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has refused to respond to the questionnaire on provisions of the Lokpal Bill, saying that seeking opinion of her party before tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha was contradictory to Parliamentary traditions.
Members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on Saturday debated and discussed the issue of the Jan Lokpal bill, for which activist Anna Hazare has been on a hunger strike since the last 12 days.
The United Progressive Alliance government and Team Anna Hazare are finding it tough to walk a middle path on the proposed Lokpal Bill draft. Suggest five ways to resolve the stand-off
Veteran social activist Kisan Baburao alias Anna Hazare is going on fast unto death at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from March 5 to press for Parliament to enact the 'Jan Lokpal bill' drafted by former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde to effectively tackle corruption in the government.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is expected to table the report of Rajya Sabha's Select Committee on Lokpal in the Upper House on Friday, the second day of the winter session of Parliament. The committee is headed by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and such reports are usually tabled by the chairmen of the committees. The government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
On the eve of the maiden meeting of the 10-member joint committee on Saturday to draft the Lokpal bill, government on Friday said it has an open mind on the issue.
Gandhian Anna Hazare on Sunday brushed aside Baba Ramdev's criticism on inclusion of father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in Lokpal Bill drafting committee and virtually ruled out any change in the nominees, saying the focus is on having an effective anti-graft measure.
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi, the Congress on Friday said that instead of trying to cash in on activist Anna Hazare's campaign against corruption, the Gujarat chief minister should first appoint a Lokpal in the state. Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said, "It is an irony that Modi is talking about the campaign by Hazare when he has not appointed a Lokayukta in Gujarat". Gohil was referring to the statements made by Modi while addressing a public rally in Assam.
An all party meeting to seek views across the political spectrum on the issue of inclusion of the prime minister under the Lokpal Bill is likely to be held in the first week of next month.
Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Santosh Hegde on Saturday said he was apprehensive about the final outcome of the proposed bill as it could be a watered down version of what was originally envisaged.
Talks between the government and Anna Hazare-led civil society failed to make any headway on Wednesday and the two sides have agreed to meet again on June 20 and 21 to bridge "strong divergence" of opinion.
In an apparent show of unanimity, the report of the Select Committee on Lokpal Bill, which has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas in states from the central bill, is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday by Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
A day after social activist Anna Hazare launched his fast-unto-death on the Lokpal Bill issue, government on Wednesday said it was open to any suggestion on the proposed legislation and had not turned down his demand for a joint committee.
With Jan Lokpal being the prime focus of Arvind Kejriwal's party and crowds donning a new version of the Hazare caps which read, 'Mein hun aam aadmi', its launch was reminiscent of the Anna movement. Priyanka reports from New Delhi
Denying reports that Anna Hazare had close connections with the late Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha leader Nanaji Deshmukh, key Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said it was part of Congress' "tactics" to divert attention from the Lokpal Bill.
The coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections -- the choice of candidates, the campaign strategies and the negotiations with other Opposition parties --0 represent the real test for Mallikarjun Kharge.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Thursday launched his second round of indefinite protest in New Delhi demanding bringing back of black money stashed away abroad.
Rejecting allegations that the government sprung a surprise by referring the Lokpal bill to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said political parties were consulted before taking the move.
In yet another twist, the controversial Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was on Monday referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha, further delaying the setting up of the anti-graft ombudsman which has been hanging fire for 42 years.
Even as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured the nation that his government was committed in passing the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare continued to accuse the government of deceit.
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