Asserting that she will fight for the passage of the Lok Pal Bill in Parliament, a combative Congress President Sonia Gandhi today sought to hit out at the Opposition for "obstructionist" tactics and Team Anna for "deliberate and malicious" criticism of the Government.
"We are being criticised and attacked for not tackling the scourge of corruption. This is deliberate and malicious misinformation," Gandhi told the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting without referring to Team Anna or Anna Hazare, who has threatened to go on a fast from December 27 over the Lok Pal issue.
"I will fight for Lok Pal and women's reservation issue", she told reporters close on the heels of telling the Parliamentary Party, "I cannot see any reason for us to be defeatist".
She said that to tackle the issue of corruption, three Bills with major implications are to be passed soon -- those relating to the protection of whistle blowers, enhancing judicial accountability, strengthening anti-money laundering operations and controlling bribery of Indian public officials by foreign companies.
"Just yesterday, Government has approved the Lok Pal Bill which is also to be introduced and passed," Gandhi said.
Attacking the Opposition, especially the BJP-led NDA, Gandhi said, "Let us fight the forces out to destabilise us, forces who have never accepted the verdict of 2004 and never reconciled themselves to the renewed mandate we got in 2009."
She said, "The Opposition may be loud but it is opportunistic. Logic and merit are lost in their obstructionist tactics."
Noting that the Congress-led coalition has never refused a debate on the issues the Opposition demanded, she wondered, "if the sole objective of the BJP-led NDA is to derail our legislative agenda".
"However, we will not be deterred. Our commitment is to the people of India. We will persevere in moving ahead on our governance and legislative programmes," she said.
On the Food Security Bill, which will be introduced in the current session, she said, "We must make it work because it will protect a huge number of our people from hunger and malnutrition."
The Bill is "very much part of our far-reaching rights based approach to development", she said, adding that she was aware that there are "still some concerns" but this is truly a landmark decision.
Gandhi thanked the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and "our colleagues in the government" for helping fulfil a key commitment made in the 2009 manifesto.
She wanted partymen to take the Food Security Bill to the people and "make it a central part of our political campaigns".
