UPA faces rocky Budget session
TMC refuses to budge on Lokayukta; BJP to hit streets to ‘expose’ Cong
The ruling UPA faces a tough road ahead of the Budget session, with the BJP announcing a campaign targeting the government for not having the ''conviction'' to put the Lokpal Bill to vote in the Rajya Sabha, and the ally Trinamool Congress ruling out any compromise on the Lokayukta provision.
Trinamool Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Roy told reporters that “the Trinamool Congress is not going to compromise on the federal structure of the Constitution. Amendments put forward by the party have to be accepted.”
Roy was reacting to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement that the Trinamool’s demand for total deletion of the Lokayukta provision might not be easy to meet and that the government might accept one or two of its amendments.
Roy said the manner in which the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die without passing the Lokpal Bill did not augur well for democracy.
“The government should have faced the voting,” he felt. Roy also claimed that MPs from Mamata Banerjee’s party had raised objections on the Lokayuta provision of the Lokpal Bill because there was an understanding with the government that the Trinamool Congress’s suggestions would be taken care of before the bill was moved in the Rajya Sabha.
“This assurance was not kept. Mamata’s voice has found an echo in the opinions expressed by other chief ministers of the country,” he said.
The BJP said that people were disappointed with the UPA for its failure to get the Rajya Sabha to vote on the bill.
“There was no conviction by the UPA in the Rajya Sabha for passing a strong Lokpal bill and that is why people are disappointed. The BJP will launch a ‘Loktantra bachao, Congress hatao’ (save democracy, remove congress) campaign at district levels from January 3 to 10,” party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.
“If the Congress had the will to pass Lokpal, it would have talked to the Trinamool Congress, BJP and other parties,” she said. The BJP proposed to send a party delegation to President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday to lodge a protest against the government’s failure to put the anti-corruption bill to vote in the Rajya Sabha. The party will hold silent marches, with members wearing black bands.
The BJP is likely to raise the issue during the coming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.
