Taking their opposition to the AAP government’s Jan Lokpal Bill a step ahead, expelled party founders and Swaraj Abhiyan leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav have threatened to protest outside the Delhi Assembly on Monday, which is when the Bill is to be tabled in the House.
While Mr Bhushan challenged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to an open debate, his father Shanti Bhushan compared him to Joseph Goebbels of Adolf Hitler’s regime.
“Kejriwal should come and debate this in public. It will expose the fraud he and his team have committed with the people of the country and the anti-corruption movement. If you have actually copied from Jan Lokpal Bill 2014 or the Uttarakhand Bill, what took you so long? The truth is that the Bill is against every principle on the basis of which the anti-corruption movement fought for the institution of Jan Lokpal,” said Prashant Bhushan.
He also released a copy of the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by the Kejriwal government in 2014.
Supporting Mr. Bhushan’s stand, Yogendra Yadav said that the 2015 Bill does not meet the basic demands made in the Jan Lokpal movement led by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. “Yesterday the AAP asked Prashant ji why he did not object to the Bill in 2014. The AAP is fooling people by saying that both the Bills are same. Today Prashant ji has placed a copy of the 2014 bill proving that it was not the same as the new one. In all key provisions, the AAP govt has diluted what it had proposed last year,” Mr. Yadav said.
Former Union Law Minister, Shanti Bhushan, also hit out at the AAP convener and likened him to Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the infamous Hitler regime. “This Goebbels is the CM of Delhi. He had said he will slash the salaries of MLAs by half, but has instead raised it by two and-a-half times. I have already filed a petition in Supreme Court for a stronger and more transparent Lokpal at the Centre and for its immediate appointment,” Mr. Bhushan said.
He also criticized the AAP of becoming like the BJP and Congress. “AAP’s stand reflected the blame-game politics that is commonly associated with parties like BJP and Congress. Its strategy has become the same,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, his son Prashant Bhushan expressed regret over using harsh words for AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha during a television debate. “When someone comes up with allegations which are nothing but brazen lies, you naturally get angry. But I still think such outbursts are not correct,” he said.
AAP spokesperson Ashutosh was quick to react on this. He tweeted: “Always respected @pbhushan1 despite differences but the way he abused Raghav yesterday I am aghast. He should apologize! @_YogendraYadav.”
He also reacted to the Swaraj Abhiyan’s plan of protesting outside the Assembly. “Modi has not appointed LOKPAL for last 18 months but Prashant, Yogendra,Shanti did not have time to criticise/protest till date. Why ?... AAP brings LOKPAL PB,YY,SB decide to stage a protest ? Why ? Double standard ? Do you need more proof of collaboration between them-BJP,” he wrote in a series of tweets.
