Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Monday said the state Lokayukta will be constituted on the same pattern as that of Lokpal Bill tabled in Parliament.
Mr. Bahuguna said in reply to an allegation made by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during a rally in Dehradun on Sunday that Congress was not implementing the Lokayukta Bill approved by the state Assembly during previous BJP-led government in Uttarakhand.
After a discussion with Opposition parties in the state Assembly, the Lokayukta Bill will be modelled on the pattern of Lokpal Bill passed by the Lok Sabha, which has the support of both BJP and anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare, Mr. Bahuguna said.
The Chief Minister said that the new Lokayukta would be implemented in the State before the deadline of February 28, 2014.
The Bill got President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent in September this year, nearly two years after it was passed unanimously by the state Assembly on November 1, 2011 during Bhuvan Chandra Kanduri government here. It is supposed to be implemented in the State within six months after getting the assent.
Without naming Congress vice president, Mr. Modi had asked why Rahul Gandhi was so vocal about passing in Parliament the Lokpal Bill when his party in Uttarakhand was silent over it.
“A Congress leader was talking about Lokpal at a press conference. My question is how can the leader of a party which has shied away from the creation of the anti-corruption watchdog so far be so vocal on the issue.
“I want to ask him if his heart really aches for Lokpal why hasn’t his party allowed the implementation of the Lokyukta Act in Uttarakhand passed by the state Assembly during BJP chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri’s tenure?” Mr. Modi had said at the rally on Sunday.
Stating that the new Lokayukta Bill would be implemented only after due discussion with the Opposition parties, the Chief Minister said that if Mr. Modi likes the Bill presented by the Khanduri government, he should implement it in Gujarat.
Mr. Bahuguna also said that it is improper on Mr. Modi’s part to say that the Congress government is “unnecessarily hounding” yoga guru Ramdev.
The government does not hold anything against Mr. Ramdev and the 81 cases lodged against him are on violation of land deals, he said.
While replying to Mr. Modi’s questions on the power sector area, Mr. Bahuguna said the previous BJP government had cancelled 2,424 MW hydro power project which included 600 MW Loharinag project and 480 MW Pala Maneri hydro electric project and 381 MW Bhaironghati hydro electric project.
Mr. Bahuguna also alleged that there were irregularities in the allocation of power in hydroelectric projects during Mr. Khanduri regime.
He claimed during BJP regime, power capacity was 7,990 MW while it increased to 8,593 MW during the Congress regime.
