With the political class ranged against them, the civic representatives of the panel drafting the Lokpal bill face an uphill battle. Sheela Bhatt reports from New Delhi.
In New Delhi things are moving fast with parties gearing up for the Uttar Pradesh election.
But before the real drama begins in the country's largest state, the United Progressive Alliance government will have to clean up the mess that began when the 2G spectrum scam started unravelling. The Tehelka story exposing Dayanidhi Maran is one more chapter that will test Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Here is the short list of open secrets that proves that government is running in circles on the issue of corruption.
There is something cooking between yoga guru Baba Ramdev and the government. There is no way, a person who wants to fight corruption seriously, would give away his cards before even bargaining with the government begins. Ramdev has said that the post of the prime minister should not come under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal bill.
Also the same Baba with so much understanding of spirituality and human minds should have never gone to palatial house of Congress minister Kamal Nath. According to news reports he had one hour discussion with the Kamal Nath in Chindwara, Madhya Pradesh.
Let us see how Baba Ramdev takes on the UPA government on the issue of land acquisition and black money when he has his own Rs 1,200-crore empire (he has said so in his latest interview) to defend. Also one should not forget that Baba Ramdev-inspired trusts own hundreds of acres of land. And trusts that have large tracts of land have a lots of dealings with people in power.
Meanwhile, the government has announced on Monday, that the tax department will have a new section that would investigate, as per Baba Ramdev's wish, criminal matters related to tax evasion. This is a joke on Baba or people who are likely to support his proposed fast. Really, one more investigative agency? That too from the same tax department that is party to corruption and keeps its eyes tightly closed to rampant corruption around them?
There is another sly game going on around the Lokpal bill.
Union ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal's press conference on Tuesday to emphasise that the UPA wants the Lokpal bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament should not be taken on face value. These two lawyers and gentlemen know exactly how many speed breakers are left before the bill can turn into law.
In New Delhi, there is the clan who thinks that they know the real meaning of power, how to use it for running this nation and think only they know how to use it. Sibal and Chidambram are distinguished members of that clan. Both are highly intellectual and truly elite.
So these highly powerful ministers are telling citizens of India that the government has not been delaying the draft but questioning the government's intentions will delay it even further. Please read this sentence again. Only lawyers can talk and pass the buck this way.
On Monday, Arvind Kejriwal, member of drafting committee of the Lokpal bill, released a statement describing, convincingly, what happened at the meeting of the drafting panel. On Tuesday, two ministers were just out to debunk Kejriwal's version. Sibal says he is confident that the draft will be ready by June 30, which is the mandated deadline. But, if Kejriwal and other members of the Anna Hazare team 'question' it then, as Chidambaram says, it will get delayed!
From day one, people know that Anna Hazare wanted a Lokpal bill which covers the PM and the judiciary. Instead of coming out with logic, facts, anecdotes and history of the issue the government is just passing time with rhetoric before the television cameras and trying to monopolise prime time.
So, one hopes lawyer Prashant Bhushan is watching these ministers closely and acts before Anna Hazare's team and people who supported a strong Lokpal bill get overpowered in a political game. The important thing is that most political parties, inside and outside the government, may be secretly behind the UPA's leaders.
Every opposition leader dreams of coming to power. He or she would not like to concede power even though it's mirage they are chasing.
The government and the political class are on side of the issue and that's a formidable force that Anna Hazare and his team have to fight against.
