Congress, SP question allotment of farmhouses to Bhushans
"We welcome the efforts of Anna Hazare on Lokpal Bill but they (Bhushans) and their family members will have to answer the questions that are being raised...This raises doubts in the mind of common people," Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi told reporters here.
"If a doubt creeps once in the mind of people that a particular person does not have a very clean life, such persons should voluntarily withdraw from this process (of drafting Lokpal Bill," he said.
Both Shanti Bhushan and his son are part of the ten-member joint committee that was formed after Hazare's agitation for a stronger Lokpal Bill.
She
said,
"There
is
no
dearth
of
knowledgeable
and
talented
lawyers
as
well
as
patriots
in
the
country
and
hence
any
other
person
can
be
made
a
member
(of
the
committee."
National
Spokesperson
of
Samajwadi
Party
Mohan
Singh
said
that
when
Shanti
Bhushan
himself
admitted
that
he
had
heard
that
bribes
passed
hands
for
these
allotments
"then
why
did
he
accept
the
plots."
"Not only his son but even Shanti Bhushan was allotted plot. According to him there was no draw for this allotment and it was done directly. He himself says that bribes passed hands for it...When the bribe was given as per confession, why did he accept such a plot," Singh asked.
Reacting to the controversy, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said, "We welcome the efforts of Anna Hazare on Lokpal Bill but they (Bhushans) and their family members will have to answer the questions that are being raised. This raises doubts in the mind of common people.
"If a doubt creeps once in the mind of people that a particular person does not have a very clean life, such persons should voluntarily withdraw from this process (of drafting Lokpal Bill," she said.
She also said that there was no dearth of knowledgeable and talented lawyers as well as patriots in the country and hence any other person can be made a member of the committee.
National Spokesperson of Samajwadi Party Mohan Singh said that when Shanti Bhushan himself admitted that he had heard bribes passed hands for these allotments "then why did he accept the plots."
"Not only his son but even Shanti Bhushan was allotted plot. According to him there was no draw for this allotment and it was done directly. He himself says that bribes passed hands for it...When the bribe was given as per confession, why did he accept such a plot," Singh said.
Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi alleged there appeared to be powers working against the committee. "It seems that certain people do not want a Lokpal Committee. I do not understand why an issue is being made when it seems that a regular procedure was followed."
PTI