Haasan to Nandy

Lokpal Blues

The Lokpal, which the government seeks to get approved during the forthcoming budget session of Parliament, has attracted the Sangh Parivar’s attention. The editorial in Panchjanya highlights the BJP’s “objections” to and Anna Hazare’s “disapproval” of the revised proposals as an indicator of the “government’s disinterest in providing clean and corruption free governance...”

The editorial objects to the government’s decision to not bring the entire CBI under the Lokpal on the pretext of maintaining its autonomy. It also faults the proposal to not grant the Lokpal the last word on the transfer of officers investigating graft cases referred by the Lokpal itself. These two factors, the editorial suggests, will make the Lokpal a “toothless body”, which will be nothing but a “betrayal” of the popular demand.