The Communist Party of India on Sunday demanded that the Union government introduce the Lok Pal Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.
CPI national secretary and Rajya Sabha member D. Raja alleged that the Centre was deliberately ignoring political parties in the drafting of the bill.
The government at no stage involved political parties or ever consulted them during the entire process of constituting the joint drafting committee. No responsible political party would have opposed the bill that aimed at achieving accountability. There had to be accountability in the judiciary and the executive as well, he said at a press conference here.
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The CPI was keen on an effective Lok Pal Bill. “We insist that such a draft bill should be brought in the monsoon session. There can be no further delay.” The CPI would state its views during the discussion on the bill in Parliament.
Asked about the agitations of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, Mr. Raja felt it was spontaneous. The whole nation was agitated over rampant corruption at the higher level. The media also played its role in sustaining the mood. There was a possibility of anarchism, dictatorship and fascism if these trends continued. People still had faith in the democratic set-up. “Let there be a comprehensive discussion on it,” he said.
Alleging that the Centre had failed on all fronts, Mr. Raja said the Congress was not keen on keeping its promise of Right to Food. The government should universalise the public distribution system. The Planning Commission's definition of poverty line was not acceptable. Its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had no understanding of the ground reality and the definition needed to be reworked.
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