New Delhi:
As he headed into a meeting of his core team to plan action on the Lokpal Bill on Wednesday morning, 74-year-old Anna Hazare found a new champion in 56-year-old Mamata Banerjee, UPA ally and Chief Minister of West Bengal. The Gandhian activist has appealed to "Behen Mamata ji" to help bring a strong anti-graft law.
"She did a tremendous job for FDI in retail, gave support to small stores. Corruption has increased, we need a strong Lokpal Bill. So I appeal to Behen Mamata ji to do something to help bring a strong Lokpal," Anna said.
It was Mamata Banerjee's refusal to budge on allowing foreign direct investment in retail that forced the UPA government to make an embarrassing retraction on its reform move a few weeks ago. Ms Banerjee added her significant voice to the protests of the opposition against that Cabinet decision.
The FDI-in-retail incident was a lesson hard learnt for the Congress-led UPA government, which has repeatedly been accused by allies in recent times of not having bothered to consult them on important decisions. This time around, as the government prepares to pass the Lokpal Bill, it has made efforts to first try and find a middle path with a new peace formula and then also try and evolve an all-party consensus on it. Mamata Banerjee and other allies vetted that formula and gave it their broad approval on Tuesday evening. Today, the Prime Minister will pitch his formula to Opposition leaders.
There has been an effort in the government's formula to address the contentious points that have led to a bitter war of words with Team Anna, which totally rejected the Bill drafted by a parliamentary standing committee as "weak and ineffective." To prove its intent in checking graft, the Union Cabinet also cleared two important bills on Tuesday evening - the Judicial Accountability Bill and the Citizens' Charter Bill. But Anna Hazare is unhappy that the Citizens' Charter, which the activists have demanded be an intrinsic part of the Lokpal Bill, has been passed separately.
"On our three demands they had said they had reached a consensus in Parliament...Now different laws are being passed... A separate law for Citizen's Charter is not right," Anna said today. The Citizens' Charter makes it necessary for government offices to post a notice that indicates how long it will take to deliver a service, and the penalty for officers who don't meet that deadline.
Speaking on the inclusion of the CBI under the Lokpal, Anna's key aide Arvind Kejriwal said, this morning, "Preliminary enquiry is being made compulsory in all cases which may warn the corrupt that he is under the CBI radar and allow him to protect himself before a raid takes place. We support CBI's argument and they are rightly protesting the recommendations." The contours of the government's new Lokpal formula suggest that only the CBI's prosecution wing should be under the Lokpal's supervision, while its investigation and administration wings should be independent. Team Anna, however, wants the Lokpal to have jurisdiction over the investigation wing.
Sources have told NDTV that Team Anna and top CBI officials have held a meeting to discuss the Lokpal Bill. During their talks, the investigating agency is said to have conveyed to Anna and his associates that it is against any bifurcation of its wings and wants autonomy. But the CBI has denied any meeting.
At the two-day meeting that began this morning, Team Anna's core committee will chalk out their future plans, including a proposed Ramlila Maidan agitation. Anna Hazare will chair the meeting which is expected to take a final call on his decision to go on an indefinite fast from December 27 if a Lokpal law which addresses his concerns is not passed in Parliament.
Sources said the panel of activists will decide on the whether Anna should sit on a fast or not and how to mobilise support for the protest, which will be held in Delhi's cold winter. There are also concerns about Anna's health and all these factors would be considered while deciding on how to protest, sources said.
Team Anna sources have said the core committee will also discuss how to go ahead with its campaign in five election-bound states if the situation warrants.