New Delhi:
This evening, Members of Parliament are scheduled to hold a formal discussion on language used by Team Anna against them. Sharad Yadav of the Janta Dal (United) has said he would like to move a resolution censuring the activists for calling parliamentarians rapists and murderers. The comments were made by activists like Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday during Anna Hazare's hunger strike in Delhi.
In his blog today, 74-year-old Anna said politicians and their "who are you to question us" attitude is an insult to the Constitution.
He said that he accepts and respects the prerogative of Parliament to form laws. However, he said, political leaders have failed the nation because they have not been able to introduce critical laws like the Lokpal Bill, which is designed to fight corruption. Through last year, the Gandhian and his aides have campaigned for the urgent need for a new ombudsman called the Lokpal. Its nine members will be empowered to investigate complaints of graft against public servants. It was because of Anna's hunger strikes last year and the massive public support they drew that Parliament began debating the Lokpal bill in December. The bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha, but is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where opposition parties have demanded a series of major amendments.
In the past, parties like the BJP have backed Anna's movement. But yesterday, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj delivered a scathing indictment of the activists. In the Lok Sabha, she said that the activists describe members of parliament as rapists and thieves. It was the same MPs, she said, who agreed in August last year to consider 74-year-old Anna's vision of a new anti-corruption Lokpal Bill.