The BJP has said it is willing to pass the Lokpal Bill “without discussion,” but blamed the Congress’s allies for the impasse in Parliament.
“The Lokpal Bill should ideally have been passed two days ago,” Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.
“Our proposal to the government is don’tt get proceedings disturbed through your allies, let’s pass it on Monday. It’s better if there is a discussion, but if there is disruption, the BJP is prepared to pass the Bill without discussion.”
For its part, the Aam Aadmi Party has dismissed the government’s Lokpal Bill. “We are now witnessing an unseemly spectacle in Parliament with the Congress and the BJP fighting to claim credit for passing this farcical Jokepal Bill,” it said in a statement.
However, Anna Hazare, whose anti-corruption campaign gave birth to the AAP, appeared to back the passage of the Bill in remarks made on Saturday.
Mr. Hazare, whose hunger strike for a citizens’ ombudsman entered its fifth day, said at Ralegan Sidhi on Saturday: “The time has came to move [ahead] with the present draft of the Lokpal Bill and get it passed. Improvements can be made later through amendments once it becomes a constitutional reality.”