Lokpal bill: Civil society seeks TDP's support

Hyderabad, Jul 2: Arvind Kejriwal, a civil society member of the joint Lokpal drafting committee, today (Jul 2) sought Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu's support to the demand for bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the proposed anti-corruption ombudsman.

"We sought TDP's support for mounting pressure on the Centre to bring the Prime Minister under the Jan Lokpal''s purview. Chandrababu responded positively to our plea," Kejriwal, who led a team of civil society representatives at Naidu's residence here, said.

Naidu has favoured bringing the PM's office under the ambit of the proposed anti-graft body. "There is nothing wrong in bringing the PM under the Lokpal's purview. The civil society's demand in this regard is justified," the Leader of Opposition in AP Assembly had said last week.

The civil society representatives have been meeting political leaders as they were the ones to pass the proposed legislation in Parliament, Kejriwal said.

The bureaucrat-turned-RTI activist discounted the claim that the proposed Jan Lokpal would run parallel to the judiciary and the executive.

"Organisations like CBI and CVC are functioning independently in many countries but that is not the case in India," he pointed out.

PTI