Ahead of an all-party meeting on July 3 to debate the controversial Lokpal Bill, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's apex body, will meet on Friday to discuss what is euphemistically being described as the “the current political situation.” However, the main object of the meeting, party sources said, was to discuss the contents of the Bill's provisions and why the government representatives on the joint drafting committee decided to exclude the office of Prime Minister from its ambit. A majority in the party concur with this line, but there are some who feel it may be wiser to include the Prime Minister, given the strong public sentiment against corruption.
The CWC, which will be addressed by party president Sonia Gandhi, is therefore expected to endorse the government's position on the Lokpal Bill and harmonise the positions being taken by party members publicly. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chairperson of the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee, is expected to brief the CWC on the two Bills, the one drafted by the government and the other by the civil society representatives.
Apart from the Lokpal Bill, the CWC, party sources said, might discuss the way in which the government has tackled the Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare issues, the bugging of Mr. Mukherjee's office in North Block and the evolving situation in Uttar Pradesh. The importance of pushing the Food Security Bill and the Communal Violence Bill – drafts of which were cleared by the National Advisory Council on Wednesday before they were sent to government – in the coming monsoon session of Parliament might also come up, these sources said: the Congress was keen to keep the focus on aam aadmi social sector issues rather than allow the Opposition to put the spotlight on corruption.
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In the past few weeks, while the government representatives on the committee — Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Salman Khursheed – have spoken on the Bill, some Congress leaders such as party MPs Mani Shankar Aiyar and Kishore Chandra Deo, and party general secretary Digvijay Singh have separately said they saw no reason why the Prime Minister should not be within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill.
Indeed, even the government's original draft had included the Prime Minister in the Bill, unless it related to issues of national security etc. – and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, too, had said that he had no objections to this. Later, Mr. Chidambaram had said the committee was considering four options — including the PM, excluding the PM, including the PM except if the subject related to national security etc, and including the PM only after he demitted office.
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Early on, the government representatives had considered the fourth option – including the PM after he demitted office – with Mr. Sibal articulating this position publicly. But eventually, the government decided to exclude the Prime Minister altogether.
This line emerged, government sources said, after they realised that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not keen on including the Prime Minister. The Congress now wants the BJP to publicly state its position – one way or the other – at the all-party meeting first. Congress sources told The Hindu that the object of the July 3 meeting was to evolve political consensus – so its views would be stated there and again in Parliament.
‘Parliament is supreme'
Within the party, the majority view is also to exclude the PM from the Bill. Party general secretary B.K. Hariprasad said on Thursday: “The Prime Minister can only be questioned by the elected representatives in Parliament, not by one individual. Parliament is supreme — no civil society can be bigger than that.”