Even as social activist Anna Hazare and his team met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here today to seek her support for the Lok Pal Bill, after the meeting, the former threatened to go on a fast again if the ‘right draft’ was not sent to the Parliament.
“A proper draft of the Bill should go to the Parliament. The civil society members will respect whatever the Parliament decides,” Hazare said after the meeting.
According to him, a proper draft will include the PM, higher judiciary, civil servants and the conduct of MPs in Parliament.
He said talks with Gandhi were fruitful and she was informed about the differences in the drafting of the Bill. Describing the meeting as satisfactory, Arvind Kejriwal said Gandhi was informed why the Lok Pal panel wanted the office of the Prime Minister to come under the Bill’s purview.
“We want the correct draft of the Bill to be sent to the Parliament,” he added.
Sources privy to the meeting said that Gandhi assured Hazare and his team that she will discuss the contentious issues with senior Congress leaders.
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Veteran Congress leaders like Pranab Mukherjee and Janardan Dwivedi were also present during the meeting. Earlier this week, Mukherjee had blasted activists like Hazare for their threats and said the suggestions they had given for removing corruption were not practical.
Gandhi has her own compulsions. She is bound by the Congress Working Committee’s resolution, asking her not be swayed by “self-styled civil society members.”
Congress managers are waiting to see what stand the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will take. As far is the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is concerned, while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) favours the Hazare formulation — that of the inclusion of the PM in the bill — the AIDMK does not support the inclusion. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party will stand by the UPA on the issue.
Tomorrow’s all-party meeting will decide what will come out of the two drafts currently in circulation.
Yesterday, the Congress spelt out its stance clearly. Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “Our stand, though not conclusive, is very clear, and is subject to the decisions taken in the Cabinet and, most importantly, to the collective will of the Parliament. We are of the view that the institutions of the Prime Minister and the judiciary should not be brought under the Lok Pal’s ambit.”
“If the Prime Minister is brought under the Lok Pal, it would lead to inherent instability in democratic and parliamentary governance. It is not about an individual, but an institution. We have to think about the stability of the same,” Singhvi had said.