Pass Lokpal bill, Rahul appeals to parties

 

New Delhi, 14 Dec 2013 (TOI): Seeking to give a big push to the Lokpal Bill, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to support the legislation saying it is a "very very powerful instrument" in the fight against corruption.

 

Addressing a special press conference at the Congress headquarters, he rejected suggestions that the government was pushing the legislation because of its defeat at the hands of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi polls and ongoing fast by Anna Hazare.

 

With the Lokpal Bill slated for a debate in Rajya Sabha on Monday, the Congress vice president said, "our job is to give this country a powerful Lokpal Bill. We are 99 per cent there and what we need is one per cent from the political parties and we can actually finish and deliver Lokpal."

 

Apparently referring to Samajwadi Party’s opposition to the Bill, he said, "All parties should together accomplish this bill. I appeal to all parties to support this bill.. this is in national interest."

 

Flanked by law minister Kapil Sibal, finance minister P Chidambaram and minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy, Gandhi said Lokpal is an "extremely important legislation" against corruption.

 

This, he said, is a part of larger framework to deal with corruption, of which RTI is the "single most powerful" weapon.

 

When repeatedly asked whether the government was suddenly interested in the bill because of the drubbing in Delhi and Hazare’s fast, Gandhi said, "it is not a question of victory or defeat. This bill will help India....This argument that we doing this as a result of elections is a bit unfair."

 

He insisted that the UPA government has been "struggling" to get the bill passed but could not do so as Parliament has been disrupted.

 

Asked whether Hazare would be convinced by the government efforts, he said, "our intention was to bring an anti-corruption infrastructure. We will keep doing this... Hazare is on fast, that is his perspective."