Anna Vs Govt : Rahul Gandhi Fails to Break Impasse
Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Aug 26: There were huge expectations from Rahul Gandhi when he was given an opportunity by the speaker of Lok Sabha to present his views on Jan Lokpal Bill in the parliament on Friday August 26.
Political experts around the country felt that this could be the Congress' trump card to break the impasse generated by the Anna Hazare Vs government tussle. Indeed, Rahul did make an impact on the people by recognising Anna Hazare's efforts to fight against corruption, and thanked Hazare for articulating the sentiments of the people on the issue of corruption and leading the fight from the front.
At the same time, he said that Lokpal alone cannot eradicate corruption in the country. "One law is not enough to change the system, laws and institutions are not enough to fight corruption," he said.
He suggested that the Lokpal be made a constitutional body like the Election Commission.
He also took a potshot at Team Anna's intentions and said, "One must not weaken the democratic process. Any process divorced from democracy is a dangerous precedent - now it is corruption, tomorrow it could be a less universal issue, and then something against secular issues," he cautioned.
His speech was disturbed by the opposition throughout specially when he suggested that the election system in India should be government funded, which would help eradicate corruption to a certain extent during the elections.
However, the common people of the nation, who are eager to see a solution to end Anna Hazare's fast did not find Rahul Gandhi's speech as a game changer.
An engineering graduate who is at Ramlila Maidan who heard Rahul's speech said, "When we are asking 'one' he is giving us 'five', we do not need that. We need a solution to end the fast. Formation of EC kind of body is a welcome idea, but it surely needs another four decades to implement. What we need now is a strong Lokpal Bill where common people can live peacefully without being troubled by bribes."
Another lady who is in her early forties said, "Where was Rahul Gandhi for the last ten days? Why is he emerging now and giving lectures on something which is not possible right now? Look at the Congress party - ten days back its spokesperson Manish Tiwari accused Anna Hazare of corruption and today, Congress 'Prince' is thanking Anna for initiating the anti-corruption movement. This is nothing but hypocrisy," she said to a TV channel.
The tussle between the government and Anna Hazare continues on the last working day of the Parliament for the week. If no solution is found today, Hazare's fast might continue till Monday too. What Anna Hazare needs at the moment is a resolution passed by the parliament that there will be a detailed discussion in the parliament on Jan Lokpal Bill, and specially on these three points - introduction of Lokayukta in each and every state, adoption of citizens' charter, and getting the lower bureaucracy under the ambit of Lokpal.