Government gives ultimatum to Anna and team

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Jacob

07 June, 2011

The government announced yesterday that it will go ahead with drafting of the Lokpal Bill no matter whether Anna Hazare and his team participate in the process or not.

AFTER DRIVING away Baba Ramdev and his supporters from the capital, the government’s next target seems to be Anna Hazare. The authorities made it clear yesterday that they would not tolerate any kind of delay in drafting of the Lokpal bill. The statement came in response to Anna’s decision to boycott the meeting of the joint committee responsible for the drafting exercise. Disappointed with eviction of Baba Ramdev from Delhi on Sunday, the Hazare camp decided not to participate in Monday’s meeting. Meanwhile, Shanti Bhushan, co-chair of the joint committee, called on the prime minister and his cabinet to resign.

Despite the boycott, the joint committee went ahead with yesterday’s meeting. Addressing a press briefing after the meeting, committee member Kapil Sibal said that it seemed the Hazare camp was not interested in the bill. He also criticised the camp for using foul language against the government. “I reject in the strongest possible terms the language used by Anna Hazare and others which I must say was not the language of civil society. They have called the government cheats, liars, conspirators. I can only hope such kind of language will not be used in the future,” he said as quoted by Samachar.com.

Sibal further pointed out that although several political parties opposed Hazare camp’s participation in the drafting process and considered it unconstitutional, the government would giving them another chance. He called on the civil society representatives to show some seriousness towards the bill and take part in the next committee meeting due for June 15.

Meanwhile, refuting reports about the use of foul language against the government, Arvind Kejriwal of Hazare camp and also a member of the joint committee said that the reports were baseless. “We have always been very proper and correct in our communication with the government. After what the government has said today, we have decided to call a meeting tomorrow to discuss what our future course of action should be,” Samachar.com quoted Kejriwal as saying.