How Lokpal took care of political foes before tackling corruption

Hidden beneath the lofty adjectives like ‘historic’ and ‘momentous’ which accompanied the passage of The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 by the Rajya Sabha on Monday is a certain sense of inquisitiveness of those with some political acumen on as to whether the Bill is actually a Brahmastra against corruption or a smart weapon in the minefield of politics. This curiosity is natural because the septuagenarian activist Anna Hazare, whom the Congress treated like a pariah for the last two years, has suddenly started exchanging letters with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, congratulating the Amethi MP for his initiative in getting the Lokpal Bill passed. If that has not caused enough surprise, the bonhomie between political foes Congress and BJP on the floor of the Upper House was an underlying statement that both the parties are keen to pass the Bill in this session. [caption id=“attachment_1292493” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Anna Hazare. PTI[/caption] The sudden sense of urgency on Lokpal is all the more surprising, because this is not the first time that Anna Hazare has gone on a hunger strike demanding a Lokpal for the country. Samajwadi Spokesman Kamal Farooqui hit the nail on the head during a CNN-IBN panel discussion. “The devastating result in Delhi (by the Congress) and BJP(’s failure to secure majority) forced the national parties to act together,” Farooqui said, adding that he had been  thrown out of the party for supporting the Lokpal Bill." Ironically, Farooqui was invited to the discussion as a Samajwadi Party spokesperson, the only party that opposed the Bill in Rajya Sabha. And the leaders from the two national parties were quick to deny any sinister motives behind their zeal in getting the Lokpal passed. “There are no backroom deals with Anna Hazare or with anyone else. Congress will walk to any length to get this Bill passed tomorrow in Lok Sabha. The BJP, Left parties and the regional parties all supported the Lokpal Bill,” said Haryana minister and Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. However, Surjewala rejected suggestions that Rahul Gandhi woke up after two years suddenly and the Congress is also desparate to remove the tag that it supports corrupt characters. “There is no doubt that the final persuasion for the Lokpal Bill came from the movement that Anna Hazare launched. It is even not fair to suspect Rahul Gandhi’s every action and he should be freed from the prism of suspicion. Rahul Gandhi made sure that the controversial ordnance that might have allowed criminalisation of politics was shelved. He is also campaigning for the Whistleblowers’ Protection Bill and played a crucial role in getting the RTI passed. Rahul is sincere in his efforts that the polity gets clean,” the Congress spokesperson added. Prakash Javadekar, who represented the BJP, was on his part, quick to bring to the fore what rold his party played in the Lokpal epic, “Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were committed to Lokpal long back but the Congress wrecked it in December 2012. It is no longer a Congress bill which Lok Sabha passed. The Select Committee made major changes and the BJP helped the government in drafting the final bill,” Javadekar said. AAP member Shazia Ilmi found it hard to accept that their former mentor Anna Hazare may have been actually lured to the “I made the Lokpal” bandwagon and chose not to comment on it. But she felt that everyone else was trying to have a bite of the Lokpal pie. “Suddenly everyone is running for credit for Lokpal. We don’t agree with this Lokpal. It is a dilution. This is a tokenism after judging the public mood. The middle class is watching the whole natak (drama). We don’t want to demean ourselves by claiming credit for this Lokpal,” Ilmi said. Perhaps in this cacophony of political shrieks what got subdued is the quiet but loud message by the Delhi voters that corruption will no longer be tolerated and the massive support for AAP was just a method to deliver that.