Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Even as a country waits the fate of the Lokpal Bill – aimed at curbing corruption – Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav chose to entertain the MPs in Lok Sabha with witty one-liners and also slammed Team Anna for trying to dictate terms to the Parliament.
Speaking after the Lokpal Bill was introduced in the house, Lalu said that the Lokpal Bill is not strong enough to tackle corruption and hence it should be sent back to Parliament’s standing committee for further discussion.
He said that the PM should not be under the Lokpal's ambit and demanded that ex-MPs should not be brought under the purview of the Lokpal. He said, “If an ex- MP comes (to Parliament), he doesn’t get place even in the bathroom, they should be left out.” The former Bihar CM also suggested that media be kept out the ombudsman domain. “They (media) show our photos to people in villages, they should be left untouched,” he added.
Lalu slammed Team Anna, he said, “Four people are dictating the Parliament. We are the law making body. Let them fast, agitate…,” he said.
Asking the government to not cow down to the “threat” of agitation, he said that it is an attempt to destroy the democracy and that the country can’t be run this way.
Taking pot-shots at Anna Hazare, Lalu advised Anna to take care of his health. “As it is bitterly cold in Delhi, he is going to Maharashtra… where Bal Thackeray is himself opposing Lokpal.”
“They (Team Anna) will say nothing against Thackeray… he is old they say, but how young are you (Anna)?” Lalu quipped.
“Parliament is not run from footpath, law is made in Parliament,” he added while also mocking mass agitations and candle light vigils.
Lalu, who has been at the forefront of the demand quota for minorities in the Lokpal – which was later accepted by the government -, also took on the BJP for terming the move as unconstitutional.
First Published: Thursday, December 22, 2011, 16:37