Kolkata: Maintaining its firm stand on
the Lokayukta provision of the Lokpal Bill, Trinamool Congress
on Sunday said it wanted a strong anti-graft ombudsman, but not by
compromising on the federal structure of the Constitution.
"Trinamool Congress is not going to compromise on the
federal structure of the Constituion and amendments put
forward by the party have to be accepted," Trinamool Congress
general secretary and MP Mukul Roy told PTI.
He was reacting to yesterday`s statement by Home Minister
P Chidambaram in Mumbai that Trinamool`s demand for total
deletion of the Lokayukta provision might not be easy to meet
and that the government might accept one or two of its
amendments.
Noting that India is a Union of states, Roy said, the
Central List, Concurrent List and the State List have clearly
defined subjects and there were no grey areas in them.
Roy claimed that party MPs had raised objections on
the Lokayuta provision of the Lokpal Bill because there was an
understanding with the government that Trinamool Congress`s
suggestions would be taken care of before the bill was moved
in the Rajya Sabha.
"This assurance was not kept. Mamata`s voice has found an
echo in the opinions expressed by other chief ministers of the
country," he said.
Roy said the manner in which the Rajya Sabha was
adjourned sine die did not augur well for democracy.
"The government should have faced the voting," he felt.
PTI
