Team Anna to headhunt for Lokayukta

Speaking at a public rally in Bangalore, Hazare said: “The government is cheating the public. I will be at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and you will agitate on the street from December 27”.

Hazare’s presence in the City prompted several like-minded people including social activists, former judges, representatives of farmer organisations among others to get together to pass a resolution pressing the State government to appoint the Lokayukta within a fixed time frame.

The meeting, chaired by Anna and attended by his team members former Lokayukta Santhosh Hegde, former top cop Kiran Bedi, Manish Sisodia and 75 others, also resolved to function as a self-appointed search committee to recommend a panel of 10 names to the government for the appointment of the Lokayukta.  “Anna has endorsed the resolutions. We will meet again and come out with the panel of names and also decide on the time frame for the government to act,” Prithvi Reddy, coordinator of India Against Corruption, said.

Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, former High Court judge M F Saldhana, former speaker Krishna, farmers’ leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar and Infosys former board director Mohandas Pai, were among those who attended the meeting.

The meeting came in the backdrop of a tussle between the BJP government and Governor H R Bhardwaj over the appointment of the next ombudsman for the State.
“The absence of a Lokayukta is suiting the government fine. On Saturday, a report was filed by the police giving a clean chit to a minister (Home Minister R Ashoka).

“If I was the Lokayukta, I would have certainly looked into it. I have a feeling more cases are going to be closed in the days to come”,  Santhosh Hegde said.