Aam Aadmi Party’s sterling performanceat the Delhi Assembly polls may prove a boon for the passage of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, which has been in cold storage for over a year. The Bill is likely to come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha today .
The Government is under pressure from the Opposition to table the Bill at the earliest. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties have even offered to ensure passage of the Bill sans any discussion if the Centre incorporates the suggestions of the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha. Social activist Anna Hazare’s indefinite hunger strike to press for the Jan Lokpal Bill to be made into law, has entered the third day — yet another cause of concern for the Government .
“If the Government takes a stand that it wants to amend the unanimous recommendations of the Select Committee or allows the House to be disturbed by the supporting parties, it would be clear that the Government is not interested in pursuing the Lokpal. We reiterate that we are willing to pass the Bill even without discussion,” Opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley told reporters here on Thursday.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury also pledged support. He, however, said that two of the 13 amendments circulated by the Government were not acceptable to the Left parties. “The Bill is in the public domain for several years. The stand of all parties is clear. The reluctance of the Centre is the reason for the delay in the passage of the Bill,” he said. Though the select committee had suggested 15 amendments, the Government has yet to accept them and circulate an amended Bill to the members.
However, it is not clear whether the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — parties offering outside support to the Government — will support its passage. Both the parties had opposed the legislation saying that it would create an undemocratic institution. An SP leader told Business Line that the party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will take a decision on the Bill at the appropriate time.