New Delhi, May 21 (IANS): The long-discussed Lokpal bill is likely to be tabled Monday in the Rajya Sabha as it is listed in the scheduled business for the day, but the government came in for flak from Team Anna for rushing the legislation merely to fulfill a formality.
With only two days to go for the budget session to end, the bill has been added to the scheduled business for the day in a supplementary list. There is no consensus yet on the legislation.
Even after amendments being made in the bill, several points of contention remain. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for instance, still objects to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not being made independent of the government.
According to sources, Minister of State for Personal and Public Grievances V. Narayanasamy and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla met Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley Monday morning in an effort to develop a consensus on the bill, but to no avail.
BJP insiders added that the party would protest if the bill was taken up very late in the day as the upper house would not get enough time to discuss the legislation.
"I hope it (Lokpal bill) will be taken in the Rajya Sabha during the last two days of the session. The last decision has to be taken by the cabinet," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters.
Team Anna criticised the government's move to rush the bill on the second last day of the session, saying it was just a formality.
"The new bill is being rushed to mislead plus fulfill a formality and blame the opposition," Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said on microblogging site Twitter.
"Did people agitate for independent Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or weakened CBI? Opposition parties if serious to corner the government must ask them to explain on the floor of the House why it's weakening/fracturing CBI?" she said.
During the winter session, the Lokpal bill was moved in the Rajya Sabha on the last day of the extended session, but could not be passed as the house was adjourned as midnight struck. The opposition had then accused the government of intentionally delaying and not passing the bill.
The Lokpal bill was scheduled to be taken up in the union cabinet meeting Friday, but was dropped from the agenda.
Several amendments have been made to the Lokpal bill to accommodate the concerns of both the opposition and the government's allies.