The passage of the Delhi Janlokpal Bill is "dream come true", but this is just a start and if the BJP-led NDA government stops the Bill, then it will face the same fate what the Congress met in last Lok Sabha polls, the Aam Aadmi Party today said.
"This is a dream come true. We are truly over-whelmed. At one point of time we felt that we have to settle for something less than what we demanded. But the common man empowered us to bring this legislation, AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai said.
AAP's Delhi unit secretary and party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, who has been associated with Janlokpal movement, said he was not surprised.
"We were intentioned to pass this Bill and we knew about this from beginning. We just want the Centre to pass the Bill," Bharadwaj said.
However, this is not a start but a beginning of a struggle as the Centre may obstruct it from becoming a law. If that happens then the BJP will meet the same fate as the Congress," Bajpai said.
The Delhi Janlokpal Bill 2015 has a clause which gives the Lokpal the scope to investigate Union government ministers and officials. This could be a bone of contention between the Centre and Delhi government.
AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, who have been associated with the Janlokpal movement since its beginning and party's Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey, along with party volunteers were present in the House when the Bill was passed. Elated after the passage of the Bill, the leaders hugged each other.
The AAP was born out of the anti-corruption Janlokpal movement led by social activist Anna Hazare. After it came to power in December 2013, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had resigned because he could not get the Bill passed in the Assembly.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the changes suggested by the Janlokpal movement crusader Anna Hazare have been incorporated in the Bill by Delhi government.
The passage of the Bill was, however, criticised by AAP's former colleague and expelled leader Prashant Bhushan. The activist-lawyer said despite amendments in the Bill, the appointment and removal was still in the hands of the political establishment.
