Rahul Gandhi let us down, says Bedi

Bedi, one of the core members of the Team Anna Hazare, said the young Congress leader was the "biggest loss of faith in our trust".

"Rahul Gandhi was the biggest loss of faith in our trust. We thought he is a young face, who would work with us for this country's future and ensure that the Jan Lokpal Bill gets passed," she said at a panel discussion organised by the Observer Research Foundation here.

Gandhi's lack of support for their movement surprised the civil society members, Bedi said.

The Congress General Secretary had criticised the fast by Hazare and said the need of the hour was not just a strong Lokpal but make it a constitutional body like the Election Commission.

Bedi said that Team Hazare agreed to drop the demand for bringing judiciary under Lokpal after the government promised that it would bring an effective Judicial Accountability Bill in Parliament.

"The draft version of the bill does not cover judicial corruption. We had agreed to drop the demand to bring judiciary under the ambit of the Lokpal because the government had promised to include judicial corruption in the Judicial Accountability Bill.

"We will now demand that the judiciary be brought under Lokpal," Bedi said.

Bedi stressed on involving people in prelegislative procedures and described "legal illiteracy" as one of the biggest deterrents in this regard.

"Legal literacy in our country is not a preference. We don't read the bills or laws. This has been relegated to certain sections of society like key lawyers, judges, and Parliamentarians," Bedi said.

She said Lok Sabha channel should not just show live parliamentary proceedings, but also announce which bill is going to be debated on which dates on the floor of the house.
"Telephone lines should be kept open and all interested parties should be encouraged to contribute to the debate.

"This would increase legal literacy and ensure that bills are passed after due consideration from all quarters," Bedi said.