Nitish to invite Anna Hazare team to Patna: to discuss Lokpal Bill
New Delhi: while Anna Hazare and group were unable to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the Lokpal Issue today, they did have a meeting with the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish assured them that he will take a decision on the matter after consulting his colleagues.
More importantly, the Bihar CM questioned the Centre’s decision of sending two drafts of the Lokpal Bill for consideration and demanded the government be clear before seeking states’ views on the proposed legislation. As it turns out in his recent face to face with the press, Manmohan Singh said he is open to the idea of the prime minister being within the purview of the Lokpal Bill. This however goes against what the Congress propagandists trio Digvijay, Sibal and Chidambaram have been saying quite firmly in recent days.
Nitish on the other hand Indicated his willingness to set up a Lokayukta in Bihar and said he will discuss the matter within JD(U) and ally BJP and invite the Anna Hazare team to Patna on the issue. According to the latest reports Nitish told reporters in New Delhi ‘Let the government tell us its view. Why are two drafts being sent to states for opinions? First, the government should make its stand clear on what it wants. Then only we can comment on it’.
After his meeting with Nitish, Hazare repeated what he has been saying for some time – namely, the Bihar chief minister has already initiated many things which the civil society’s Lokpal Bill envisages. Kejriwal said Kumar told the team he would “explore the possibility” of setting up a Lokayukta in the state and will invite them to Bihar for further discussions. Bedi termed the meeting as “extremely positive” and said the chief minister is willing to engage civil society in a constructive manner.
Kiran Bedi said that Kumar told them one cannot deal with civil society in a “controlled, laboratory-like” fashion. He was for more purposeful engagement with them.
“This is the first time a leader has announced in public he would take effective steps to set up a Lokayukta in the state. This is a wonderful initiative,” said Bedi.