JOIN USCong treads cautiously over Anna
The ruling Congress on Sunday reacted cautiously as Anna Hazare returned to Delhi and held a token fast demanding justice for slain whistleblowers, signaling a move to broad-base his campaign against the Government beyond the Lokpal Bill.
The party reminded the veteran Gandhian that it was the Parliament which alone could make the Lokpal Bill, a law of the land which can take on the menace of corruption. The party that leads the ruling UPA, however, also said that Hazare had a right to fast.
“Annaji has a right to fast. However, what kind of law will be framed, how it will be framed are issues which will be decided by the Parliament and not by an individual. Parliament makes laws which it thinks are most appropriate,” said the All India Congress Committee spokesman Rashid Alvi.
Though Hazare’s diatribe against the UPA government earlier evoked sharp reactions from the Congress, the ruling party on Sunday did not immediately react to the Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal’s comment that cases could have been registered against 14 Union ministers, had the nation had a Lokpal.
The Congress reiterated that the government was committed to set up an institution of ombudsman to fight corruption and it was trying to evolve a consensus.
“As far as Lokpal Bill is concerned, the government is committed. Everybody knows that we do not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. So we are trying to take all parties along with the Congress to get the law passed in the Parliament,” said Alvi. The party’s general secretary Digvijay Singh however criticised Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and other Team Anna members for “exploiting” Hazare. The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha during the last Winter Session of the Parliament. Despite an intense debate in the Rajya Sabha till late at night on the last day of the session, the Rajya Sabha could not pass the Bill. An all-party meet convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last Friday failed to evolve consensus on the much-debated Bill.
Despite being on the list of allegedly “tainted” ministers which Kejriwal read out at the venue of Hazare’s fast at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal refrained from attacking the veteran Gandhian.
“It is not meant to pressurize the government. I don’t accept it. There is no problem if he is on a fast for a good cause,” said Jaiswal in Kanpur.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said that the UPA government was not perturbed by the Team Anna’s tirade against it, as its Lokpal Bill was one of the best.
“If you want to make a small issue a bigger one, you can have it. But so far the UPA government is concerned, we are not perturbed. The Parliament is supreme and we are always following the parliamentary procedures. Parliament’s importance cannot be reduced,” said Ahamed. BJP spokesperson Balbir Punj however, said that the government was not interested in passing a strong and effective Lokpal Bill.
“The government is not honest in this matter. That is why, whether it is Baba Ramdev or Anna Hazare, they have to undertake protest fast to put pressure on the government,” said Punj.