The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi recently approved the Jan Lokpal Bill, the same piece of legislation it had once resigned over, though with some tweaks.
It is these tweaks which have now become the bone of contention. The bill that is set to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly in the coming week, has become the reason that the party and its government have come under heavy criticism from sacked co-founder Pashant Bhushan. Once it is passed by the Assembly, it will be sent to the Lieutenant Governor.
Bhushan recently tweeted that there were differences between the Jan Lokpal Bill draft made during the Anna Andolan, and one the Delhi government has drafted.
As per the new bill, appointment & removal of Lokpal can be done by Delhi Government, there is no investigating agency under it and it is empowered to investigate Government Of India as well. NewsMobile caught up with Bhushan for a short chat over why the changes in the bill are such that the Central government may never approve it.
Q. You’ve pointed out that there are major differences between the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by the AAP government and the draft bill made during Anna Andolan. The Bill was the bedrock of the movement and the politics that emerged from it. Many have said that the movement is close to being dead now, owing to deflections from stated ideology. Is this bill the final nail in the coffin?
Absolutely. Not only is the Janlokpal Bill different from the draft bill made during the Anna Andolan, but it is also different from the Uttarakhand version of the Bill. Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that the Delhi Janlokpal Bill would be in line with the Uttarakhand Bill.
The Janlokpal Bill is the basis on which the Aam Aadmi Party was formed. The first AAP government had resigned on not being allowed to table the Janlokpal Bill. It defeats the basic principles on which the idea of the bill was formed. It is worse than the government’s bill, which Arvind had called the ‘Jokepal’, adding that it would not be able to catch even a rat. It totally places the Lokpal under the government.
Q. You said that the Centre is sure to reject the Bill and then the AAP government will raise a hue and cry. What is this new kind of politicking that we are seeing in which daily fights with the Centre, and playing the victim have become a regular affair?
In this bill is that he has introduced a clause, which provides that the Delhi Lokpal will investigate the Central government servants also. Our draft bill had said that Lokayukta will investigate corruption in central government servants, while the Janlokpal Bill will investigate alleged corruption by state government servants.
He has deliberately kept this clause so that the bill is rejected by the Central government. This move is just to try and get political mileage, by saying that though the AAP government introduced the bill, the Central government is not passing it. It shows that everything that they say or do is only intended to gain political mileage, but not to achieve anything substantial.
Q. What is the progress with the Swaraj Samwad? Will we see a new political party soon?
Not in the immediate future. We are holding meetings and discussions. Even today we have a meeting in the national capital.