New Delhi:
In an attempt to stave off another mass movement by Anna Hazare, and to prove its commitment to fighting corruption, the government has suggested that it is likely to meet two of the key demands that Anna has for the new anti-corruption Lokpal Bill. V Narayanswamy, who is the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, has said that the Prime Minister and 57 lakh junior bureaucrats may both be covered by the Lokpal Bill. That means the nine-member ombudsman agency will have the right to investigate them for corruption (though with many riders in the case of the PM).
So the major remaining point of dispute between the government and Team Anna is whether the CBI should report, as Team Anna wants, to the Lokpal. The government has indicated it's not likely to bend on this. "Rahul Gandhi is to blame for a weak draft of the Lokpal Bill, "Anna said in Pune this evening. Accusing the government of betrayal, the Gandhian said, "The anger of the people will boil over."
Anna, who is 74, has threatened to begin a new hunger strike on December 27 if the Lokpal Bill is not passed in this session of Parliament, or if it does not include the features his activists deem essential.
"Fast or feast - that doesn't concern us at all. We respect them (Team Anna) for their feelings, for their cause, for the efforts that they have put in. But the decision is upto Parliament now," said Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
The Lokpal Bill will be reviewed by the Cabinet and introduced in Parliament next week. The government is inclined to offer far more than what's recommended by the parliamentary committee that has been studying the bill. The committee says junior bureaucrats should not be answerable to the nine members of the Lokpal. On the matter of the PM, it asks Parliament to decide, and presents three options - include the Prime Minister with safeguards, include the Prime Minister after he or she exits office and exclude him completely. The BJP's Arun Jaitley said "They put three options - and then we hold a seminar? This is unknown to parliamentary democracy and practices."
For the UPA, this has been a year of financial scandal and operational failures. And it cannot afford the PR disaster of 74-year-old Anna, surrounded by lakhs of supporters, taking on the government for surviving on graft - something he has done twice already this year, earning super-hero status among middle-class India.
That's why it is willing to go far beyond the recommendations made by a parliamentary committee that has been examining the Lokpal Bill. This panel's report was submitted in parliament today, and was immediately attacked by the Opposition and Team Anna.
The committee had 30 members, and its report is accompanied by 16 notes of dissent. "The Standing Committee had 30 members. Two never attended. Sixteen dissented. So this report is supported by balance 12," said Arvind Kejriwal, who is Anna's closest aide. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is a Congress Rajya Sabha MP and chaired the committee, said the dissent was nominal. He said the committee addressed 24 issues and on 13 of these, "there was 100% unanimity."
(Watch)