Babudom

The Lokpal Bill – Current status of the discussion by the Parliamentary committee

Twice this year, there has been a lot of controversy over the Lokpal Bill. In April, the issue burst onto the limelight when Anna Hazare sat on a dharna at the Jantar Mantar in the capital, Delhi, protesting against the Government wanting to have a watered down version of the Lokpal. The move generated an enthusiastic support with people coming to the site; the media and various online fora were all abuzz with enthusiasm about the campaign. This forced the Government to come to a settlement where 5 citizens nominated by Anna Hazare were part of a committee (with 5 members of the Government as well) that setout to create a strong Lokpal institution. As expected, the Government soon went back on the basic intention, tossed aside the suggestions of the non-Government committee members on the most important issues, and decided to send a Bill.
Anna Hazare took on this issue again, promising to go on an indefinite fast to get a Bill passed by Parliament. There was some condemnation of this move, with protests of this being about subverting Parliament, and so on, but the mass support that Anna Hazare received from all sections of society forced the Government to admit that the measures it had taken were incorrect, and finally the Government decided to have a Sense of the house in Parliament, where they agreed to the most contentious issues, and sent this off to the standing committee. There was a sense of feeling that the Government will not so easily agree, since the most contentious demands arguably refer to the inclusion of the lower bureaucracy and inclusion of a citizen’s charter, since it is the lower bureaucracy that is the one used by all the political parties to generate the money through corruption that these parties need for their survival.
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2G scam continues to haunt the Government – SC asks why PM did not follow through

The 2G scam continues to haunt the Congress party. For quite some time, the Congress evaded that there was any issue with the 2G scam issue, claimed that this was a policy decision (with the honorable purpose of reducing the telecom rates), that the CAG was off its rocker, that the Supreme Court had no locus standi. Next, the Congress tried to separate itself from the scope of the scam by claiming that all this was the work of a rogue minister, A Raja; the PM was helpless since he had to depend on the minister, was bound by the challenges of coalitions politics, and besides the poor PM was a single man, how could he monitor everything that was happening (thankfully, the PM did not repeat this particular line, else the charge of being a useless and non-caring PM would have stuck to his plate).
For quite some time, the Congress believed that this will work, that eventually the case will lost its media attention, and the CBI will be persuaded to back off or make the case much weaker (which is what the CBI is already being accused of). However, when other people smell blood, then it is difficult to stop them. So, the media is forever on the case, and Subramaniam Swamy is dedicated to targeting some of the senior members of the Congress in the 2G scam rather than be satisfied with the scalp of A Raja.
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Lessons from the Unheard – the Anna Hazare fast and campaign

[This is a guest post. If you want to see your name on this blog, please use the following link - http://indiapoliticalblog.com/write/]

5 days into Anna Hazare’s fast and you could surely tell that something was abuzz. You could almost sense the fever wherever you went. Crowds congregating in corners, some distributing pamphlets while others just euphoric about being part of something historic. Some IT parks even witnessed a few of their employees taking out solidarity walks.

In the din of this unspoken frustration, age-old grievances were being raised by various strata of society concerning their plights which we are all too familiar with. It has been said that this agitation has brought the middle class to the fore. However a small promenade into the masses in Ramlila would shatter this premise immediately. The single fact that brought all classes of society together this time is an endemic problem that has plagued our nation since the time of its inception. This in my opinion was the first and most important message that resonated with one voice to the Government.

In the battle that soon ensued, both Civil Society and the Political Class (as being seen elsewhere in the world) took their own extreme positions, waiting for each other to budge. The trump card that Civil Society had was an elderly man on a hunger fast, and that put the ball directly into parliament!! The Government had to budge for this was their only way out of the predicament, they may be smarter though, the next time someone pulls a “fast” on them.
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