All-party meet on Lokpal without precedent: Advani
July 4th, 2011 - 4:21 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Monday described as “unique and without precedent” an all-party meeting on the Lokpal bill, saying it was unanimous in its criticism of the government.
“I have been in parliament for 40 years, and have attended numerous all-party meetings convened by the government. The meeting held by the prime minister on July 3 evening, however, proved unique and without precedent,” Advani wrote in his blog.
“Never before has an all-party meeting turned out to be so unanimous in its criticism of the government as last Sunday’s,” he said.
The meeting on the Lokpal bill ended in differences as parties discussed the government and civil society versions of the ombudsman bill. All parties, however, agreed on the need for a strong Lokpal.
Even as the main opposition BJP keeps its official stand on the inclusion of the prime minister under Lokpal reserved, Advani in his latest blog has given a list of Lokpal bill versions that wants the prime ministers under the Lokpal, including the one brought by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
“The Lokpal bills presented subsequently by the NDA Governments under Atal Bihari Vajpayee also covered the Prime Minister. I well remember that Atalji as P.M. was very insistent that the Prime Minister should not be kept out of the Lokpal’s jurisdiction,” Advani said.
He also quoted Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley to say the bill needs to be “completely overhauled”.
“He wished to emphasise that the Ministerial draft would make Lokpal a pliable government person. When government introduces the Lokpal bill in Parliament let the present draft be completely overhauled,” Advani added.
He also hailed Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai for unveiling the government’s corruption. Quoting from a magazine, Advani said: “Behind every gigantic scam that has shaken the Manmohan Singh regime - CWG, 2G or KG basin - there is the quiet and assertive hand of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.”
- Government to bring Lokpal bill in line with constitution (Roundup) - Jul 04, 2011
- All-party meet on Lokpal bill Sunday (Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- All-party meeting on Lokpal bill Sunday - Jul 03, 2011
- NDA leaders meet on Lokpal bill - Jul 02, 2011
- Hazare meets Sonia, parties differ on PM under Lokpal (Roundup) - Jul 02, 2011
- Consensus eludes all-party meet on Lokpal bill (Second Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- NDA, Left attend all-party Lokpal meeting (Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- BJP undecided about attending Lokpal meet: Gadkari - Jun 30, 2011
- PM calls all-party meeting on Lokpal bill - Jun 24, 2011
- All party meet on Lokpal bill ends amid differences (Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- Support strong Lokpal, BJP says after meeting Team Hazare (Roundup) - Jul 01, 2011
- NDA to attend all-party meeting on Lokpal bill (Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- Ahead of June 30 deadline, uncertainty continues over Lokpal bill - Jun 25, 2011
- Why was civil society involved in law making, opposition asks government - Aug 17, 2011
- We want strong Lokpal bill, BJP tells Team Hazare (Lead) - Jul 01, 2011
Tags: arun, bharatiya janata party, bihari, bjp leader, comptroller, corruption, july 4, l k advani, last sunday, leader of opposition, manmohan, manmohan singh, national democratic alliance, New Delhi, ombudsman, party meetings, prime minister, prime ministers, rai, rajya sabha