Thaindian News

New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of acting arrogantly during the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Lokpal bill a day earlier, Law Minister Salman Khurshid Friday said the party should have acted responsibly and wisely.

“They were so arrogant, believing that they had the majority and would do whatever they wanted. They should have acted more responsibly and wisely,” Khurshid told reporters here.

The Rajya Sabha failed to pass the Lokpal bill Thursday with the house being adjourned sine dine amid chaos, putting a question mark on the future of the anti-corruption law.

Blaming the BJP for unnecessary delay, Khurshid said that if the party indeed had the support of the house, they would have voted instead of wasting time in speaking.

“If a game is played, it’s played on both sides… why were they playing a game?”

The minister was quick to add that the bill would be passed perhaps in the next session.

“The bill is ours, not theirs (BJP). If the bill with all the amendments achieves its goal, then it will be passed. Amendments are always discussed but just because someone wants them to be passed forcefully is not possible,” added Khurshid.

When asked to respond on Team Anna member Kiran Bedi’s comment that the impasse had given a handle to their team, Khurshid said: “Kiran Bedi has been saying a lot of things and she will continue to say a lot of things, but that’s her right. This is a democracy.”

“If you are talking about Anna Hazare ji and his colleagues, I don’t recall they welcomed the passing of the bill in Lok Sabha,” he added.

Khurshid further said the government was always at the receiving end of Team Anna.

“When we pass the bill we are villains and when we don’t get it passed we are villains? If we are going to be villains anyway then let us do what we want to do and there’s no point now responding to what they are expecting us to do,” said Khurshid.