Lokpal panel divided; Govt assures to table bill by Jun 30

New Delhi, May 31: The crack in Lokpal bill panel is clearly eminent when both civil society members and government members started the war of words. After Civil society, the second attack was hurled from the government side on Tuesday, May 31.

Earlier, Lokpal panel member and civil society representative, Arvind Kejriwal denied all reports opinion differences among them. However, criticising Kejriwal and other Anna Hazare's team members, Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram said, "No unanimity even in the civil society members."

During a joint press conference with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram assured the country people that the government will be successful to table the anti-corruption bill - Lokpal Bill by Jun 30, 2011.

Sibal, slamming civil society members' statement, said, "Writing to all states Chief Ministers and political parties for their opinion, doesn't mean delay."

Chidambaram also informed that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already sent letters to all state Chief Ministers seeking their opinions on the Lokpal bill. The central government now asked all state governments that whether the Prime Minister and MPs should be included within the ambit of Lokpal.

Earlier, accusing the government of delaying the Lokpal bill, Kejriwal claimed, "Right from the beginning we have been advocating complete transparency in the proceedings of the meeting. We have been saying that the entire meetings should be either live telecast or video recorded and the records should be made public. The government has been consistently been refusing that."

OneIndia News