All party meet over Lokpal turns out in vain

New Delhi, Mar 23: The all party meet over the Lokpal Bill called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned out in vain failing to arrive at a consensus.

Manmohan Singh met Rajya Sabha MPs to tackle the Lokpal issue and its passage in the Upper House of Parliament, but all his efforts went in vain following the differences of opinion.

Despite of PM Singh asserting that the ruling UPA was committed to a strong Lokpal, several MPs objected to the Lokpal Bill and sought clarification on several provisions in the bill.

MPs demanded clarifications over bringing the CBI under the Lokpal ambit, inclusion of Lokayuktas in the bill and the appointment and removal Lokpal members.

Lok Jan Shakti Party's Ramvilas Paswan and Rashtriya Janata Dal's Ram Kripal Yadav opposed to the idea of Lokpal.

Leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, All India Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, National Conference, Janata Dal (United), Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, Left parties and Bahujan Samaj Party requested that the Lokayukta clause be deleted as it would hamper federalism.

"In matters of corruption, Lokpal should also be involved. If the CBI does the investigations, the Lokpal should be kept in loop and it should be transparent," said Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP.

He demanded that Lokpal should have the authority to investigate private companies and foreign NGOs and that it be made democratic.

OneIndia News