New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare, on Sunday, made it clear that there will be no change in the drafting committee panel shortlisted to hold talks with the government on the Lokpal bill, after Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev raised objections about the presence of both Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan in the panel.
"Baba Ramdev seems to have had a misunderstanding. It’s a family matter. We will sort it out. This is the best team and it will not change. You need to understand this is the temperature team for drafting," Anna said.
Kiran Bedi also defended the Joint Drafting Committee saying, "I spoke with Ramdevji and tried to explain him on the matter. This is not a relationship thing, but they are the ones who will bring reform."
She also said that she consciously said no to be a part of the panel as they wanted the best people to be in the team.
RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal also backed Anna Hazare. "Naturally who understood the nitty gritty of the bill will be in this team. There was a collective decision on the team members. There is no controversy involved into the matter," he said.
The yogic arm of Anna Hazare's campaign against corruption struck the first discordant note, even before the victory chorus could subside, perhaps peeved at being left out of the five member civil-society panel for drafting the Lokpal Bill.
However, within hours he retracted the statement, saying that he didn't have any opinion on the panelists, but just wanted to know why Kiran Bedi was not included. But the damage had already been done.
Forcing this retraction was a telephonic talk Hazare had with Ramdev, who is now camping in Haridwar. He heads the powerful Pitanjali Yogic peeth with followers and ashrams across the country, and more than once, Baba has made his political aspirations apparent.
Ramdev's attack however, forced the civil society group into a huddle and it was left to Shanti Bhushan to return the favour to Baba in a true yogic parlance.
"We don't need Yogic expertise in the drafting committee of the Lokpal Bill," Shanti Bhushan said.
Anna Hazare broke his five-day-long fast after the government issued a notification for the Lokpal Bill redrafting committee.
The panel will have have five members and five representatives of the civil society. It includes Anna Hazare himself, but not as a chairman, lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the committee that will also include Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Sibal, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid as members.
Putting the entire controversy behind them, the civil society group will now be meeting for a week to chalk out their strategy before the first meeting of the joint group is held on Saturday.
Comments
0 comment