Panaji: Union Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs, Ashwani Kumar, on Saturday accused social
activist Anna Hazare and his team of delaying Lokpal Bill by
abstaining from the meeting of the drafting committee.
"It is not the government that is seeking to avoid the
(passage of) bill. On the contrary, it is self-proclaimed
crusaders against corruption, who had chosen to abstain from
the last meeting of the negotiating committee, who are
delaying it," Kumar said, talking to reporters here.
"I hope and I expect the negotiating committee will carry
forward the discussion so that the nation can have a credible
and effective Lokpal bill as soon as possible."
"What has the Ramleela Maidan issue got to do with
whether they (Hazare and others) should participate in the
Lokpal bill or not?" Kumar asked.
Hazare and others had boycotted the last meeting in view
of police`s crackdown on Ramdev`s followers.
He said that government and UPA leadership would try
their best to bring in Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session of
Parliament.
Referring to the arrests in the high profile 2G and CWG
scams, Kumar said that never before in the history of
independent India such decisive and strong measures were taken
against corruption-accused.
Corruption was a national evil and could not be the
agenda of any single organisation or a party, he said.
The union minister accused opposition BJP of
orchestrating recent incidents in New Delhi involving Ramdev`s
agitation. BJP was trying a "backdoor entry" into political
space of the country, he alleged.
PTI
