)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Thursday strongly favoured a new Lokayukta akin to the Lok Pall Bill passed by the Parliament and said a cabinet meeting would be convened shortly to discuss the issue.
“Uttarakhand will be the first state to pass the Lokayukta Act on the lines of Lok Pal Bill passed by Parliament,” Bahuguna said as he came under fresh attack from the BJP over the issue.
After coming under attack from BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday, former chief minister B C Khanduri has also slammed the CM for not implementing the Lokayukta Act in the state despite the President’s assent.
Describing the Lok Pal Bill as historic, Bahuguna thanked the centre for enacting the new anti-graft law. There were some anomalies in the Lokayukta Act enacted by the former BJP government in the state, he said.
Bahuguna also said the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), an alliance of independents and parties supporting the Congress-led coalition government in the state, has also given its consent for the implementation of the new Lokayukta on the lines of the Lok Pal Bill passed by Parliament.
In a counter attack to Modi, Bahuguna early this week had said if Modi likes Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act so much then he should implement it in Gujarat. Bahuguna also made it clear that the new Lokayukta Act would bring the office of chief minister under its ambit. “I am making it clear that the new Lokayukta Act will bring the office of chief minister in its ambit. There is no uneasiness in this,” said Bahuguna.
Despite getting the Presidential assent, the future of Uttarkahand’s controversial Lokayukta Act against corruption had hit roadblock with the state government saying it will review it and described it as “unconstitutional” due to certain provisions including that of bringing judiciary in its ambit. The CM said the government has time till February 28 to enact the new anti-corruption measure.
