New Delhi:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that today's Question Hour be suspended for a discussion on the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha. And Team Anna is once again keeping a close eye on the proceedings in Parliament. However, they are not too hopeful.
Anna Hazare believes that the government has no intention of passing a strong Lokpal Bill and he and his team are preparing for an-anti Congress movement for the 2014 elections.
"We won't approach the government again. We have been doing that for the last one year. Their intentions with the Lokpal is not clean. They have been fooling the people again and again. Why go to them once again? We are now preparing for 2014. The Parliament elections are going to happen. I am going to start travelling across the country within a month or two and would instigate people against the government," said Anna Hazare.
However, Anna's close aide Arvind Kejriwal believes that the Congress-led UPA may have learnt its lesson after the recently-concluded state elections.
"We hope that the government will learn its lesson from what happened in the elections in these five states. We hope that they would withdraw this bad and dangerous Lokpal Bill which would only increase corruption. We want them to prepare a good Lokpal Bill and get it passed as soon as possible," Mr Kejriwal said.
Yesterday, on day one of the Budget Session, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the Opposition to allow Parliament to function. But with BJP's plan set for the second day, it is on a collision course with the government, which wants to discuss the Bill only later in the session. With different agendas on the minds of the government and the Opposition, today's proceedings may well lead to a logjam, once again, due to the contentious Lokpal Bill.