Anna Vs Kapil Sibal on Lokpal Bill

New Delhi:  Both Anna Hazare and Kapil Sibal are members of the committee that will draft what the country hopes will be a historic and tough law to combat corruption. But in a case of public friction, Mr Hazare has said that Mr Sibal, who is the Telecom Minister, should not participate in the process of forming a new law if he doesn't expect it to be effective.

Mr Hazare, who spent the last week on a hunger strike, became the 72-year-old magnet for people all over India, who fasted and rallied in cities in support of Mr Hazare's agenda. He wanted the government to draft a new Lokpal Bill, and for civil society to be included in the process. The government first resisted, arguing that legislation cannot be opened up to civil society; on Friday evening, it conceded to Mr Hazare's demands. Five of the ten members of the committee will be representatives of civil society. And the committee will be co-chaired by one of them, former Union Minister Shanti Bhushan.

After Mr Sibal reportedly expressed his apprehensions about the new Lokpal Bill, Mr Hazare said, "If Kapil Sibal feels that nothing will happen after the Lokpal Bill, then he should give his resignation as soon as possible from the committee. Why should he waste time, the other things that need to be done for this nation should be done by him. Why be part of this committee if nothing will happen?"

Mr Sibal then clarified that he had not doubted the potential of the Lokpal Bill; he had merely said that it cannot address problems other than corruption. "I want that the Lokpal Bill should be drafted asap. A tough bill. If you want to educate a child, Lokpal will not help. It is related to corruption. So we will bring such a bill that will get rid of corruption. We will sit with Anna Hazare and draft a good bill."