New Delhi:
Legislation will be done by legislators, ideas can come from anywhere, said Finance Minister and veteran Parliamentarian Pranab Mukherjee on the NDTV Indian of the Year 2011 stage, when RJD chief Lalu Yadav pointed out that after anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare and his associates from the civil society, anyone could demand a role in framing law.
Mr Mukherjee described the inclusion of Team Anna in the process to draft the Lokpal Bill as an experiment and said about the extreme criticism that his government has faced from Mr Hazare and his associates, "We can always be wiser in hindsight. We made an experiment - we did not go with the conventional way of drafting legislation. We made an attempt to include representatives of the civil society. Nothing wrong with that," he said.
Asked if Team Anna's extensive campaign against his party contributed to the Congress' defeat in the Hisar by-election yesterday, the seasoned politician would only say, "Voters did not pick us. Whether it was Anna effect is for analysts to decide."
On the IOY stage, Mr Mukherjee earned plaudits from even political rivals. Seated in the audience, Arun Jaitley of the BJP said of Mr Mukherjee, "He is great believer of parliamentary democracy. His other colleagues show smugness and arrogance in crisis. But he can charm even his critics."
In an aside, Mr Mukherjee confided that the only film he had watched in the last 25 odd years was Rang De Basanti, and that too in the call of duty. He had been asked, as Defence Minister, to see the film by the censor board to rule out objections, he said.