New Delhi:
It's the second day of Anna Hazare's fast at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi today. The 74-year-old Gandhian launched his 15-day mass-protest against corruption from here on Friday after a massive roadshow. Thousands of his supporters gathered to show solidarity with him yesterday.
(Read: Who is Anna Hazare?)Seated in front of a huge poster of Mahatma Gandhi, Anna had vowed last evening that he will not leave this camp till a new anti-corruption law drafted by his team is passed by Parliament. "I will not give up...we will keep fighting until we get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed," the Gandhian reiterated today, as the crowd of supporters at the ground in central Delhi cheered. "I have lost 3.5 kg over the past four days... but there is nothing to worry," he added. Later in the day he said, "We have to break this chain of corruption."
Anna's team today demanded an early introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament and said the government can get it passed in days if it has the will. "It is the people's demand that next Tuesday when Parliament opens, the government should withdraw its version of the Lokpal Bill and introduce our Bill," former Law Minister and close Anna associate Shanti Bhushan said. Addressing the gathering at the Ramlila Maidan, he added that the government should give an "assurance to Hazare that whenever the Jan Lokpal Bill comes, they will issue a whip and get it passed."
(Read: What is Jan Lokpal Bill?)Another Team Anna member, Arvind Kejriwal, urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee that is currently studying the government's copy of the Lokpal Bill to reject it, saying it will only waste time on it.
Kejriwal claimed at the Ramlila ground that the government's Lokpal Bill will only protect the corrupt. "We requested the Standing Committee to completely reject the Bill and send it back to the government because there is no time for the Standing Committee and Parliament to waste in discussing a totally wrong Bill," he said.
Reacting to Team Anna's remarks, the Government and the Congress spoke out in one voice, slamming them for criticising the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The party and the government said Team Anna can be held guilty of violating Parliamentary privilege.
"If someone says this is a waste of time then I think it is very unfortunate," said Naveen Jindal, MP, Lok Sabha.
Rajiv Shukla, MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, added, "To insult the Standing Committee and to insult Parliament and to say that the 542 MPs in Parliament are thieves...I think the people of the country should now decide who is arrogant and who is not."
In April, Anna and his team captured the mood and imagination of the country when Anna went on a four-day hunger strike. In towns and cities, thousands of people marched in solidarity, backing his mission for more accountability from those in office.
Then, like now, the government waffled between trying to write off Anna and treating him like a representative of the people. When he refused to end his fast, his demands were met. Anna and four of his nominees were invited to help draft a new Bill against corruption. Five ministers formed the other half of the drafting committee. The Lokpal Bill was to be introduced in Parliament before the end of August.
But there was an absence of consensus between the activists and the ministers. Both sides had vastly disparate takes on who should select the Lokpal or ombudsman committee, what sort of powers its members should have, and whether senior judges and the Prime Minister should be exempt from its investigation. Ultimately, both teams delivered separate drafts of the Lokpal Bill. The government chose to introduce its own version in Parliament, daring Anna to fight back if he disagreed.
They have - even though their own Bill has evoked strong criticism for provisioning an all-powerful Lokpal that would have few checks and balances. Team Anna's Jan Lokpal Bill (or People's Lokpal Bill) may yet arrive in Parliament. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, an Independent member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, has submitted Anna's version as a Private Member's Bill. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha can send the Bill to President Pratibha Patil. If she agrees, the Bill can be taken up after a month.