New Delhi:
Lalu Prasad Yadav, not unsurprisingly, offered fierce opposition today to the Lokpal Bill because the minority quota for the ombudsman has been removed. Leading a raucous charge in the Lok Sabha, Lalu demanded, "We don't accept this, fix it and bring it back." Lalu also objected to the fact that while several MPs had yet to receive a copy of the bill, the media seemed to have full access to it. The clamour forced the House to adjourn till 2 pm. The break was used for a high-level consultation between the PM, Sonia Gandhi and other senior ministers like Pranab Mukherjee.
The Lokpal Bill brought to Parliament today has altered the reservation quota to drop minorities for the nine members of the new Lokpal or ombudsman.
The government has dropped the term 'minorities' while recommending that half the members of the Lokpal - and the search committee that appoints them - represent Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and women. The reason for the change is that the Constitution does not sanction reservation for minorities, and the feature could pose another challenge for the government, which is already being attacked by the opposition and activist Anna Hazare.
The 74-year-old Gandhian launches a three-day hunger strike in Mumbai on December 27, the day when Parliament is scheduled to debate the Bill.
"Now minorities have been kept out of reservation. This is totally unacceptable. We will protest like anything inside and outside Parliament," said Ram Vilas Paswan.
Lalu and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party have already indicated that they do not support the Lokpal Bill. "It will create a police state," said Mulayam yesterday. (With PTI Inputs)