New Delhi:
On the eve of his day-long fast against the Parliamentary Standing Committee's report on the Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare hit out at the government, saying the committee that had released the report on the anti-graft bill was "fooling people of the entire nation."
Flanked by his team of civil society activists, better known as Team Anna, the Gandhian - at a packed press conference on Saturday- said that the government had no intention of bringing in a strong Lokpal Bill. Mr Hazare is miffed that the report prepared by the 30-member parliamentary panel headed by Congress' Abhishek Singhvi on the Lokpal does not include his recommendations. These include the inclusion of the Prime Minister, lower bureaucracy and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the anti-graft ombudsman. While the draft report remains non-committal on the PM's issue, leaving it instead for the Parliament to decide, it does not favour junior bureaucrats being answerable to the nine-member Lokpal.
"People won't get justice till lower bureaucracy is included", Mr Hazare said.
The 74-year-old activist is also unhappy about the exclusion of the CBI from the Lokpal's purview in the draft report. The government as well as the investigating agency is opposed to his demand, contending that it will affect the autonomy of the institution.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday at his 7, Race Course Road residence to discuss the Lokpal Bill. The all-party meeting intends to ascertain the views of all political parties before the cabinet takes a final view on the Standing Committee's recommendations on the Lokpal Bill. The draft report prepared by the committee will be tabled in the Parliament next week for discussion and consideration.
(Read)But prior to the all-party meeting, the Cabinet will meet on Tuesday followed by a meeting of the government's allies on the contentious issue.
The all-party meeting, especially, is significant in that it would help the government gauge the mood of the opposition parties, many of whose representatives will be in attendance at Mr Hazare's fast on the latter's invitation for a public debate on the bill. They include senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley, CPI(M)'s Brinda Karat, Biju Janata Dal's Pinaki Mishra, and Janata Dal(United) president Sharad Yadav. The Prime Minister would be hoping to evolve a broad consensus on the contentious bill at the all-party meeting which could, in turn, facilitate its passage in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, something that had been promised to Mr Hazare.
But the current draft on the Lokpal prepared by the Standing Committee has failed to impress the Gandhian. Keeping up his attack on Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, Mr Hazare said that the young leader was behind the Standing Committee's report on the Lokpal. Yesterday, he had accused Mr Gandhi for diluting the draft report of the anti-corruption bill.
"There is somebody behind...Who is bigger than the Prime Minister?...We suspect Rahul Gandhi could be behind this...Who else can dare to challenge the Prime Minister? That is why there are these problems," Mr Hazare said, alleging that their intentions are "not good".
The Prime Minister's mention was in reference to his assurance to the veteran activist in August this year to include the Citizen's charter, lower bureaucracy and establishment of Lokayuktas in all states, something that led Mr Hazare to call off his 12-day fast in New Delhi.
"They have cheated the whole country. The Prime Minister had given in writing that these three issues would be brought under the Lokpal Bill...The Prime Minister's letter was thrown into the dustbin. Why this volte face? Is Singhvi's post higher than that of the Prime Minister," Mr Hazare told reporters.
The Standing Committee headed by Mr Singhvi is not in favour of inclusion of Group C and D employees and has also kept out Citizen's charter and Lokayukta from the draft report.
Mr Hazare also reminded the government of his earlier threat to resume his anti-corruption agitation from December 27, saying that it would be carried on for the next two years till the next general elections.
"We will continue to fight for the next two years. We will move around the whole country before the general elections to create public awareness," he said.