Union Minister Jitendra Singh today blamed the Congress over the delay in appointing the Lokpal, saying it did not win the required number of seats in the Lok Sabha.
Replying to a debate on the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, the Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office said the Leader of Opposition was one of the four members of the panel that appoints the anti-graft ombudsman, Lokpal.
However, there was no Leader of Opposition due to the depleted numbers of the Congress in the Lower House, he said.
"The delay in the appointment of Lokpal is not due to the ruling party, but due to the Congress. The Congress party failed to get minimum seats. We have made an amendment to include the leader of largest party in the opposition to be a member of the panel that will select the Lokpal," Singh said.
In its worst-ever performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress bagged only 44 seats. To lead the opposition, a party requires at least 10 per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha, which is 545.
In 2016, the Lokpal Act was amended to enable the leader of single largest party in the opposition to be a member of the panel to select the Lokpal.
Besides the leader of the largest opposition party, the committee comprises the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Incidentally, the Supreme Court today expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's response on appointment of search committee members for a Lokpal.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, R Banumathi and Navin Sinha asked the Centre to file a fresh affidavit giving relevant details of the search committee, after Attorney General K K Venugopal submitted an affidavit and said a meeting of the selection committee was held but names for the search committee were not finalised.
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