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Strong Lok Pal, yes, but through norms, Parliament: Pawar

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Sanjay Jog Mumbai
Last Updated : Jan 20 2013 | 2:28 AM IST

“A strong Lok Pal is a need of the hour, but it should become a reality as per constitutional norms and the parliamentary system,” said Union agriculture minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief, Sharad Pawar.

Pawar, who skipped questions relating to social activist Anna Hazare's fast in Delhi and his demand for a ‘Jan Lok Pal’ as defined differently than the central government’s, told Business Standard: “There has been no division within the (ruling) UPA (coalition) on this issue and the NCP is fully supporting the Prime Minister and the government on the (official) Bill.”

Pawar, who had stepped down from the ministers' team engaged in drafting the anti-corruption legislation in April when Hazare objected to his credentials to do so, said he’d not been asked by anybody in the government to mediate with the Hazare team and nor had he taken any initiative in this regard. “The Lok Pal bill is not under the jurisdiction of my ministry. The bill has been prepared by the department of personnel and it is now referred to the parliamentary standing committee. Law and order is with the home ministry. I have kept myself away and nor have I been asked to intervene,” he said.

While declining any direct comment on the Hazare demands, he referred to reports on dalit community representatives saying the importance of the Constitution of India drafted by Ambedkar should not be belittled.

An NCP leader, who did not want to be identified, said: “Hazare has always attacked Pawar in the state in the past. The social activist hardly enjoyed a good rapport with Pawar during his (the latter’s) chief ministership here. NCP general secretary D P Tripathi has already declared the party's view, that Hazare's anti-corruption cause is right but the method is incorrect.”

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First Published: Aug 22 2011 | 12:52 AM IST

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