New Delhi, May 11 (DHNS): The UPA government on Thursday began a process of consultations in an attempt to drive a consensus on the controversial Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill by holding discussion with Opposition Leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley.
Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, Pawan Bansal and V Narayanaswamy, in their meeting with Jaitley, are understood to have informed him of the government’s willingness to drop the provision of setting up of Lokayuktas in the states. Instead, a model law would be passed by Parliament to enable states to create their own Lokayuktas.
Dropping the Lokayukta provision was a demand vociferously pursued by two allies of the UPA – Trinamool Congress and DMK, more so the former – leading to the Bill getting stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
“Some ministers met me over the Lokpal Bill,” Jaitley told Deccan Herald after the meeting. It is learnt that the ministers discussed other contentious points: inclusion of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Lokpal, appointment of Lokpal and inclusion of Group C&D employees in the anti-corruption ombudsman’s ambit.
The BJP is strongly opposed to bringing the CBI under Lokpal. It wants the investigative agency to be independent. The government is said be of the view that it would go by a broad consensus on the issue. The main Opposition is also demanding that the process of appointment and removal of the Lokpal be made more democratic.
To achieve unanimity on these issues, the government would be speaking to other parties in the next few days.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Khurshid said: “We would like the bill to come to the Rajya Sabha only after there is a consensus. If the Bill is brought and then consensus is sought in the House, it would lead to certain problems.” Bansal added: “More meetings will be held.” Asked if the Bill would be brought in Rajya Sabha next week, he said: “Hopefully.”
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress had threatened to vote against the government if the government had gone ahead with voting on the Bill when Rajya Sabha took it up during the winter session. The House was adjourned in controversial circumstances at the stroke of midnight on December 29, allowing the draft legislation to lapse.
By then, the Opposition had moved over 125 amendments to the Bill.
In a move that proffered some relief to the government, the Trinamool said on Thursday that it would support the Lokpal Bill if it was brought without the clause on appointing Lokayuktas in the states.
"If the Lokpal Bill is presented without Lokayukta (clause), we will support that. This has been our demand. The states should have the powers to appoint the Lokayuktas," TMC leader and Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed said.
To get the bill passed, the government is considering extending the session by a week – it is now scheduled to end on May 22. However, the issue did not come for discussion at the meeting of the Lok Sabha Business advisory committee, which decides the proceedings of the House, on Thursday. If the Rajya Sabha passes the Bill with amendments, then it will have to go back to the Lok Sabha in changed form.
Only if the House of People agrees to the new Bill, will it become an Act. Hence, the need for extension of Parliament session.
The government had extended the winter session in 2011 by three days, essentially to pass the anti-corruption Bill. It could pass the legislation in Lok Sabha, but not in the Upper House.