Amid Team Anna’s claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not prepared to vote on a resolution on the Lokpal issue, the party on Saturday clarified it would vote in both Houses of Parliament in favour of all the three sticking points if the government brings a motion or resolution on the issue.
“I have just heard Arvind Kejriwal on television. He says that government has informed him that BJP is not prepared to vote in favour of a resolution. This is not true,” Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter.
Following these reports, senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Ms. Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley held a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the issue.
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Talking to reporters in Parliament House, Ms. Swaraj said, “What the government is saying is completely false. It should not mislead them (Team Anna). We will vote in favour of all the three demands in both Houses of Parliament.”
Asked if getting a sense of the House after the debate is what the government was aiming at, Ms. Swaraj said the government had not discussed this with her and she was not aware of any such move.
“I may clarify that BJP shall vote in favour of a motion or resolution the government may bring,” she said.
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Team Anna is insisting that a resolution be moved and put to vote in both Houses of Parliament on the Lokpal issue and this should incorporate the three contentious points of a Citizens’ Charter, Lokayuktas in States and including the lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the ombudsman.
Reiterating the BJP’s stand, Deputy Leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde accused the Congress of spreading rumours and said, “We are ready to vote if a resolution is moved. We had initially demanded a discussion under Rule 184 which entails voting.”