New Delhi: States ruled by the Congress
have informed the Centre that they will go by the views of the
"party High Command" and UPA government on the issue of Lokpal
Bill.
All the Congress Chief Ministers, except for Sheila
Dikshit in Delhi and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, mentioned in
their letter that they will go by the decision of the Congress
central leadership and UPA government on the issue.
While Dikshit made it clear that she will welcome
"whatever be the outcome of the Government of India's views"
on the Bill, Gehlot argued for a "much wider" consultations
with political parties at the national level on the Bill.
The responses of the Chief Ministers to Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the chairman of the Lokpal Bill
joint drafting committee, came after he sent letters to them
seeking opinion on contentious issues of inclusion of Prime
Minister, judiciary and MPs under the ambit of the Lokpal.
"I have carefully considered the matter. As you know,
Haryana state is being governed by Congress party which is a
national party, having a well defined cadre hierarchy.
"As such, our stand on the issues connected with the
draft Lokpal Bill will be same as that of the party at the
national level," Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda
said in the letter.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also did
not give a direct answer to the queries raised by Mukherjee
but said the views of the state government will be in
confirmity with the central leadership of Congress and NCP.
"I would want to state here that the Congress
government of Arunachal Pradesh being an extension of Congress
led government at the Centre, holds the same mandate and view
on the matter and extends its unequivocal support to any
decision that the party High Command will take," Arunachal
Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 00:48