As the anti-graft Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, it was left to the RJD chief Lalu Prasad to ease the tension in the House as he cautioned, in his inimitable style, against “running the country with agitation” and chided attempts to make Parliament subservient to such tactics.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta was more direct in his criticism of civil society activist Anna Hazare, attacking him for “pretending to be another Father of the Nation.”
“We represent the country. There is one person who aspires to be the second Father of the Nation. There is only one Father of the Nation and that is Mahatma Gandhi,” Mr. Dasgupta said, while referring to Mr. Hazare.
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UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and almost all the Congress members were seen thumping their desks, showing their approval. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who had batted for granting Constitutional status to the Lokpal, and his colleague Sandeep Dikshit were seen listening to the Left leader in rapt attention. As pointed out by the Leader of the House and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the introduction of the Bill itself witnessed a rather unusually lengthy debate that went on for nearly 90 minutes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar were also present throughout the discussion.
All the benches in the Lok Sabha were not occupied, but the press gallery was fully packed. From the gallery meant for Rajya Sabha members, Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Arun Jaitley and his deputy S.S. Ahluwalia watched the proceedings in the Lower House. Javed Akhtar, nominated Rajya Sabha, member also sat through the most part of the discussion.
While welcoming such an anti-graft legislation, Mr. Dasgupta warned the government not to act “under duress” and “not surrender the sovereignty of the House” just because somebody was threatening to do something. He also accused the government of “parliamentary mismanagement.”
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“You should not be afraid of anybody, least of all an ex-police officer, an ex-bureaucrat and a person pretending to be another Father of Nation,”' he said.
Hitting out at Mr. Hazare and his team, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said in chaste Hindi, “Three-four people cannot dictate terms to Parliament.” He said Parliament could not be held to ransom with the threat of agitation. “Parliament cannot be run from the footpath. We are the law-makers, we will debate and bring a strong anti-graft law. What is the hurry to pass the Bill, let us study this Bill,” he said while attacking Mr. Hazare for pressuring Parliament to pass the Bill.
Taking an unpredictable twist, the RJD chief said: “Lalu Prasad was born in 1948. The British ran away before I arrived.” Both Ms. Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj could not hide their smiles at the remark. His extempore speech also evoked many more chuckles.
Super power centre
Ananth Geete (Shiv Sena) cautioned that the proposed Lokpal would become a “super power centre” without any checks. He said that his party was opposed to the Lokpal right from the beginning as it would not be accountable to anyone.
Yashwant Sinha of the BJP criticised the government for discarding parliamentary practices and issuing “corrigenda” at the last minute. Terming it a “monumental inefficiency” of the government, he said the government was trying to bring an “amendment” through the corrigenda.
While supporting a “strong, effective and credible” Lokpal, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia said that federal structure should not be disturbed at any cost and the Centre should not “interfere in the domain” of a State government.
Similarly, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and Biju Janata Dal's B. Mahtab also cautioned against tinkering with “federal structure.” Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP) welcomed the reservation as proposed in the Lokpal for backward classes, SCs/STs, women and minorities.