Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (File photo)
The Samajwadi Party, a crucial ally of the government, has refused to support the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill as requested by Rahul Gandhi. However, it will do the government a favour by refusing to join law-makers trying to force a trust vote in parliament.
The Samajwadi Party or SP, which lends external support to the coalition government, says the Lokpal Bill gives over-riding powers to a national ombudsman to investigate corruption among public officials.
Last week, as the government tried to introduce the bill in the Rajya Sabha, SP law-makers were among those who protested so noisily that the house was adjourned.
The SP had also vowed to support a group of MPs who want to bring a no-confidence motion against the government for its decision to split Andhra Pradesh into two by turning the region of Telangana into India's 29th state. Today, SP leaders said they will not join that lobby.
Union minister Kamal Nath today said the government remains firm on Lokpal Bill and is trying to convince Mulayam Singh's party. "We will extend the winter session, if needed, to pass the bill" he said.
Mr Gandhi, the Congress vice-president, also urged other parties over the weekend to support the Lokpal Bill. "There is 99 per cent consensus on Lokpal Bill, we need one per cent political support," he said. His party's sudden surge of interest in getting the bill cleared before this parliament session ends on December 20 is being seen as a result of its drubbing in the Delhi election, where voters rushed to support the new Aam Aadmi Party or AAP, which has promised to combat corruption.
In Maharashtra, 76-year-old Anna Hazare is on the seventh day of his hunger strike; he says he will eat only when parliament clears the Lokpal Bill.
His one-time protege, Arvind Kejriwal, who led the Aam Aadmi Party's spectacular debut in the recent Delhi elections, has dismissed the Lokpal Bill that's being brought to parliament as a weak and ineffectual proposal designed to shield corrupt government servants instead of exposing them.
Anna strongly disagrees. "If anyone feels there are shortcomings in the bill after it is passed, they should hold a separate fast for it," he said.