New Delhi: In a move to dispel the impression that it is soft on corruption, the Congress on Saturday gave a big push to the Lokpal bill.
Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi appealed to political parties to set aside their differences to ensure passage of the bill in the two Houses of Parliament.
His appeal came against the backdrop of the Congress' defeat in the Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections and the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party, which defeated the Congress in Delhi.
The Congress did try to make corruption as an issue in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, but did not succeed in the electoral battle because corruption at the Centre became the major issue, along with price rise, in all the four states.
This was Gandhi's first press conference at the AICC headquarters after the drubbing. He interacted with the media, along with Union ministers P. Chidambararm, Kapil Sibal and V. Narayanasamy, but confined it to the Lokpal Bill and the UPA government's “comprehensive“ anti-corruption strategy.
“Our job is to give this country a powerful Lokpal bill. We are 99 per cent there and what we need is one per cent from the political parties and we can actually finish and deliver Lokpal,“ he said.
The Bill is slated for a debate in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The Samajwadi Party, backing the UPA government from outside, is opposing the bill.
Without naming the SP, Gandhi said: “All parties should together accomplish this bill. I appeal to all parties to support this bill... This is in national interest.“ Asked whether the government’s push for the bill was to show to the voter something in the wake of the drubbing at the hands of the AAP in Delhi and Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast, he said: “This is not... We have struggled for a while, but at every step, Parliament is disrupted. This has to do with corruption and this has to do with a serious weapon to deal with corruption, like RTI.”
Sudden interest in Lokpal 'not' linked to poll debacle: Rahul
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asserted that the government’s sudden interest in passing Lokpal Bill was not due to party’s debacle in the recently held Assembly polls and rise of the Aam Aadmi Party.
“It is not a question of victory or defeat. This bill will help India... this argument that we doing this as a result of elections is a bit unfair,” Gandhi told reporters during a special press conference at the Congress headquarters.
Asked whether Hazare would be convinced by the government's efforts, he said, “Our intention was to bring an anti-corruption infrastructure. We will keep doing this... Hazare is on fast, that is his perspective.” The Lokpal bill, in an amended form after consideration by the select committee, was brought back to the Rajya Sabha on Friday for consideration but a discussion on it was thwarted by the SP members.
Union Finance minister P. Chidambaram, who was also present there, said, “It is possible, one or two parties may have reservations on the bill. I don’t think there is any party which says we shall not or should not have the Lokpal.”
