Accusing the Centre of “hoodwinking” the country by delaying the passage of a strong Lokpal Bill, Team Anna on Sunday said it would be a “great betrayal” if the law was not cleared in the ongoing budget session of Parliament and threatened to launch a nation-wide protest
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said the government was “purposely” delaying the passage. “If the Bill is passed, they know their officials will be in trouble ... If the Bill is not passed during the ongoing session, it would be the greatest betrayal on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's part.” He said they would be forced to launch a nationwide protest again if the Bill was not passed in this session.
There is uncertainty over when the amended Bill will be brought before the Rajya Sabha, though informed sources had earlier indicated that this might be done by Tuesday, the last day of the session.
Another Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan said the government was afraid of passing the Bill. “They know that they can win elections. But they also know that if this Bill is passed, many of them in power will be in jail. So they won't allow its passage,” he alleged.
