Calling the “special invitee invitation” an effort to exclude the independent voice of the Opposition, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge boycotted the meeting of the selection panel for the Lokpal on Thursday.
He shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, detailing the reasons for his absence. “A perusal simplicitor of the Lok Pal Act, 2013, its intent and objective reflects that ‘Leader of Opposition’ cannot be substituted as a ‘special invitee.’ It is a matter of surprise that our government is choosing to adopt this route as a mere paper formality rather than seek any meaningful and constructive participation,” he wrote. There was no reaction from the government to the letter. Government sources confirmed that the selection committee did meet on Thursday.
The Congress is upset that the names of short-listed candidates were not shared with it. Mr. Kharge had said that without this information, he could not add value to the discussions.
The Congress has been demanding that the government amend the Lokpal Act to state that in the absence of a recognised Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the single largest party in the Opposition will be included in the panel. to appoint the Lokpal. Mr Kharge also attached with the letter a proposed amendment to the Act to replace “leader of opposition” to “leader of single largest party in opposition”.
Hitting out at the government, Mr Kharge in his letter to Prime Minister pointed out that notwithstanding the rhetoric to fight corruption, BJP government has chosen to not appoint a Lokpal for nearly four years. The Congress led UPA government had passed the Lokpal Act 2013 which came into force on January 16 2014.
“To anyone familiar with BJP government’s record in not establishing and preserving the office of the Lokayukta in Gujarat, this would not come as a surprise,” he said.
Mr Kharge said that Thursday’s meeting is only to satisfy the order of Supreme Court. The conduct of the government, Mr Kharge said ‘seeks to diminish the spirit and objective of appointment of Lokpal in as much as you seek to deny participation, voice and opinion of the opposition.’
“My mere presence as special invitee without rights of participation, recording of my opinion and voting would be a mere eyewash, ostensibly aimed at showcasing the participation of the opposition in the selection process,” he said in his letter.
He also said that “such myopic actions belie the spirit of nation building” and “a more apt and statesman like conduct is expected from the prime minister of the country.”
