Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor
New Delhi: With Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal adamant to get his desired Jan Lokpal Bill passed at a special session of Delhi Assembly, the Congress is maintaining that the anti-corruption legislation should not be pushed in an unconstitutional manner.
As the confrontation grows over the passage of Kejriwal`s pet proposal, Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely on Monday said that his party supports the bill but it should be passed in accord with the constitution.
After Kejriwal had contended that the Constitution provides the Delhi government to pass law and wrote to the home ministry that it should withdraw its 2002 order which directs the Delhi government to take approval of the ministry before passage of any bill in the assembly, the missive of the AAP government has been referred to the law ministry and it has been asked to give its opinion on the issue by the home ministry.
Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bill will be tabled on the floor of the Delhi Assembly on February 13, Kejriwal said, further adding that the AAP intends to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on February 16.
The stage is all set for a conflict between the Delhi government and the central government as a defiant Kejriwal is not budging from his stand to have the Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bill passed without prior approval of the Centre and has threatened to quit the CM seat if the two bill are not passed by the Delhi assembly. Whereas, the Congress, on whose outside support the Delhi government survives, has said that it will not let the anti-graft bill passed in an unconstitutional manner and it is the party`s duty to protect the Constitution.
Kejriwal had on Monday asserted that the Congress is now keen on stalling the bill since the Delhi government has order a probe into the alleged corruption in Commonwealth Games projects. He even attacked the BJP over the Lokpal issue saying that there are also allegations of corruption in the MCD against the BJP, where the party is in power of past seven years.
Kejriwal rose to power in Delhi after the Assembly election, making an impressive debut while riding high on the anti-corruption wave and pre-poll promises in which he vowed to end corruption through the Jan Lokpal Bill.
It will not be easy for the Delhi Chief Minister get his proposed bill passed as he faces legal hurdles. Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran told Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, whom Kejriwal called a Congress agent, that before there is voting on the bill, it must be approved by the Union Home Ministry as the ombudsman agency that the bill will create will be funded at least in part by the Union government.
