Lokpal debate: Lok Sabha adjourned without voting

7.32 pm: Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the House speaks:

• Lok Sabha adjourned without voting.

• In principle agreement with the Citizens’ Charter, lower bureaucracy and state Lokayuktas.

• It is because of the Constitution that anyone can assume high offices. Our responsibility is to ensure that there is no conflict with the people who are our masters.

• It is not a mere theoretical discussion.

• There is a need for change in the system.

• Asking for withdrawal of government Bill is undemocratic.

• Individual should have the right to express their consent and dissent.

• Whatever is incorporated in the Bill will be subjected to the scrutiny of the Standing Committee and the House before it is passed.

• If somebody is on fast to get a 42-year-old Bill passed, it is time to respond.

• India is a functional democracy and need not function always in a straitjacket manner.

• My colleagues bungled by criticising Anna Hazare.

• None of us can condemn and criticise Anna Hazare.

• 27 speakers have spoken so far.

7.18 pm: Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress speaks:

• Anna Hazare should cooperate with the Parliament for a strong Lokpal Bill.

• We do not want cheap publicity.

• National Advisory Council is the first body to engage civil society for public affairs.

• What were BJP leaders Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde doing at the Ramlila Maidan if it was not for cheap publicity?

• Questions Sushma Swaraj why NDA failed to pass Lokpal during its regime?

6.40 pm: Varun Gandhi, BJP speaks:

• Lot of propaganda about the BJP being behind the force behind the Anna Hazare.

• System is broken. It has failed us.

• It is our duty to reflect public opinion, not to judge or reject it.

• Divide between the people and the Parliament is manufactured.

• This movement has convinced the youth of the country that they can stand for change.

6.15 pm: Anand Sharma, Congress speaks:

• Prime Minister is an institution. The Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj should not have insulted the Prime Minister in her address this morning.

• Constitution of India is non-negotiable and non-violable

• Constitution is supreme, Parliament is sovereign

5.55 pm: H D Deve Gowda, JD-S speaks:

• Praises Pranab Mukherjee for trying to calm down the situation.

• It is for the Standing Committee to decide the merit of Bills.

5.17pm: Lalu Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal speaks:

• Calls upon parliamentarians to save Parliament.

• Lalu Prasad questions the role of media.

• Merits or demerits of Anna’s 3 conditions should go to a proper forum which is Standing Committee.

• Attacks Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi.Blames them of misleading Anna Hazare.

• When was the polls to the civil society held? Who elected the civil society?

• Should learn from 74-year-old Anna Hazare how to fast for so long?

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4.46 pm: Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI speaks

• Lokpal and Loyaktukta should be separated but may based on the same model.

• The role that electronic media is playing in its Ramlila coverage is not conducive to the nation.

• Accountability of the Prime Minister, judiciary and public servants should be there.

• There has to be a political will to fight corruption.

• Why is the police not taking action when there are scams after scams without getting an admonition from the courts?

• Why is there a phenomenal rise in corruption? Bofors scam was of Rs67 crore only. 2G scam cost the exchequer Rs30,000 crore.

• Government made a mess of the situation.

• Pranab Mukherjee is frank when he said the country is at crossroads.

• Government is speaking in many voices.

• Nobody should take the pride of fighting corruption alone.

• One person has rocked the country and the Parliament. Why is it so?

4.10 pm: M Thambidurai, AIADMK speaks:

• Centre should not impose its clout upon states.

• Anna can give facts and figures, not terms.

• No single person can dictate Parliament. Parliament is supreme. Democracy must be preserved.

• You have called us because Anna Hazare is on strike and not because you want to fight corruption.

• Corruption starts at lower level.

• Don’t include Prime Minister within the ambit of the Lokpal.

• Parliament and democracy are supreme.

4.06 pm: Sanjeev Ganesh Naik, NCP speaks:

• Supports a strong Lokpal at the Centre and equally strong Lokayuktas at the states.

3.41 pm: Anant Gangaram Geete, Shiv Sena speaks:

• Supports BJP’s view.

• Big corporate houses have also indulged in corruption.

• Laws can punish the guilty but cannot prevent a crime.

• Lokpal law should be framed keeping in mind the dignity of the Constitution and Parliament.

• Refers to Bal Thackeray’s letter to Anna Hazare where he requested him to put Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan on fast if needed.

• No class is immune to corruption.

3.19 pm: Bhartruhari Mahtab, Biju Janata Dal speaks:

• Lokpal should not be allowed to punish. A person prosecuting should not be the person to punish. This may lead to autocracy.

• Opposes government funding of elections because of the multiplicity of political parties.

• Right to Service should be enforced. Citizens’ Charter should be included in the Lokpal.

• Central govt employees should be under Lokpal and state employees should be under Lokayuktas.

• BJD prefers an institution of Lokayuktas. Appointment of state Lokayuktas should only be the prerogative of the state governments.

• Parliamentarians should be protected for his conduct inside the House.

• Judicial independence should be respected.

• Judicial Accountability Bill should be expedited.

• Incumbent PM should also be under Lokpal. PM should not be investigated at all for national security and matters of public order.

• Disdain for Parliament can have tremendous repercussions.

• Anybody can create a crowd in the street but you don’t create laws on the street. Laws are made in the Parliament.

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2.51 pm: Basudeb Acharia, (CPI-M) speaks:

• Withdraw government Bill. Revive with all inputs from Jan Lokpal Bill.

• There should be separate machinery to deal with the public grievances.

• Lower bureaucracy should be under vigilance machinery. But the power of supervision should be with Lokpal or Lokayukta.

• One legislation of the Lokpal and Lokayukta will disturb the basic frame work of the Constitution.

• Corporate houses should be under the Lokpal.

• National Judicial Commission should be constituted under the Judicial Accountability Bill.

• What is the rationale behind keeping Prime Minister out of Lokpal?

• Time to review our tax system. Crores of rupees are lost because of tax evasion. Referred to the Hasan Ali case.

• Break the nexus of corporate houses, corrupt politicians and bureaucracy.

• There is a need for a judicial commission.

• Donation from corporate houses to political parties must be stopped.

• There is a need for state-funded elections.

• Money power in elections has risen tremendously.

• Multi-pronged approach needed to fight corruption.

• Government Lokpal Bill useless.

• All we want is a strong and effective Lokpal. For that a strong Lokpal Bill is also required.

• Our natural resources are looted by corporate houses because of liberalisation.

• Lack of institutional mechanism to investigate and prosecute.

2.40 pm: T K S Elangovan, DMK speaks:

• All public offices should be under the Lokpal.

• Sending the Bill to the Standing Committee will do good to the Bill.

• Lokpal should have power to punish but after a thorough enquiry.

• We should not burden the Lokpal by including lower bureaucracy. Higher officials can be directed by the Lokpal to take action against junior officers at fault.

• Lokayukta should not be forced in the states. It would infringe upon the independence of the states.

• In a democracy, people are the judges not media.

• Criticises media for instigating the Anna movement.

2.27pm: Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, Trinamool Congress speaks:

• Create Lokpal as a statutory body.

1.40 pm: Sharad Yadav (JD-U) speaks:

• Anna never raised the question of class divide.

• Constant TV coverage not allowing us to sleep.

• Country run by Parliamentary debates not TV debates.

• Accuses Team Anna and supporters of misusing national flag. As per law, the tricolour should not be unfurled after 6pm.

• Criticises electronic media, spiritual leaders.

• Asks Team Anna to maintain decorum and decency of language.

• Takes a dig at Kiran Bedi, Om Puri for demeaning Parliament and politicians.

• But officials should be protected as well. They should not be victimised.

• No problem including lower bureaucracy.

• No problem with Citizens’ Charter.

1.26 pm: Dara Singh Chauhan, Bahujan Samaj Party speaks

• If Parliament decides to bring the PMO and judiciary under the Lokpal, Samajwadi Party would support in the condition that the poor and the Dalits would be taken care of.

• Lokpal should be secular, help the poor.

• If the intentions are not good, it would not be possible to run the country properly.

• Why is there no discussion on social corruption?

1.06 pm: Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh, Samajwadi Party speaks:

• Urges Sushma Swaraj to visit Anna Hazare and request him to end fast as the Parliament has agreed in principle to his three demands.

• Create a National Judicial Commission.

• Drug makers, electronic goods makers, print and electronic media, food and food product makers should be under the ambit of the Lokpal.

• Lower caste should be adequately represented in the Lokpal.

• Uphold Rule 105. Protect parliamentarians in Parliament.

• Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence and External Affairs should be out of the ambit of the Lokpal.

• Parliamentarians and Parliament should be respected. Slams Sushma Swaraj for not trying to protect the Parliament and parliamentarians.

• Had the government invited the Opposition instead of the civil society, this situation would not have arose.

• Parliament should discuss all versions of the Bill.

12.32 pm: Sandeep Dikshit, Congress speaks:

• NGOs are within the ambit of Lokpal in the government Bill. But government should reconsider if the NGOs which are not taking public finding should be under the Lokpal.

• Government is ready to accommodate suggestions to make a strong Judiciary Accountability Bill. The independence of the judiciary should not be compromised.

• Lower bureaucracy should be a part of the Lokpal but a consensus is needed on the institutional framework.

• We need to figure out the mechanism of grievance redressal.

• Govt is trying to bring an efficient Grievances Redressal System. Making of the law is in the process.

• Lokpal Bill should have enabling provisions for Lokayuktas.

• Parliamentarians should be safeguarded for their behaviour in the Parliament.

• Lokpal should be immune to CBI.

• First government not strong enough.

• Team Anna has amended their Bill 10-12 times. Jan Lokpal Bill is not sacrosanct.

• Today we need to discuss the Bill and not attack each other.

• Slams Sushma Swaraj for indulging in politics during her speech.

11.37 am: Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj speaks:

• Lower bureaucracy: Appellate authority can be made under Lokpal. Lower bureaucracy should be under Lokpal.

• Grievances Redressal: Officers need to act according to a timeline or face consequences. Mechanisms can be created.

• Refers to Article 252b to allow Lokpal and Lokayukta within the same format.

• Composition of selection committees should be balanced. The government should not have a majority to prevent misuse. Refers to the recent CVC selection flip-flop.

• Rule 105 gives immunity to parliamentarians for their behaviour in the Parliament and it should stand to maintain supremacy of the Parliament.

• Slams government for selective charge sheets in the cash-for-vote scam.

• Bring CBI anti-corruption under Lokpal.

• Refers to Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav, L K Avani, Mayawati, Jagan Mohan Reddy, Yashwant Sinha, J Jayalalithaa etc. as victims of CBI cases.

• CBI is misused by the ruling party. Used as a tool against opponents.

• Judges are akin to god in our country. Only Judicial Accountability Bill is insufficient to tackle judicial corruption. A National Judicial Commission is required.

• When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to be under the ambit of Lokpal why are the others opposing? But National Security and Public Order should be out of the purview of the Lokpal.

• Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to bring PMO within the ambit of Lokpal.

• Keeping Prime Minister out of the Lokpal would not send out a good signal. Country would question the strength of Lokpal then.

• Rahul Gandhi failed to carry forward the statesmanship of the Prime Minister.

• Calls Rahul’s speech in the Parliament an address to the nation.

• Criticises Rahul Gandhi’s Friday’s speech. Says Zero Hour platform to raise issues and not speech.

• Sushma accuses the government of trying to shoot off Opposition’s shoulder.

• Rahul Gandhi’s speech was not on agenda.

• We also hoped for a resolution after the PM’s last speech.

• Why was there a gap in the resolution of all party.

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• What was communicated to Team Anna after the all-party meet?

• We hoped to move forward after all-party meet.

• The people also got angry because of the toothless Bill of the UPA.

• Due to the recent scams involving huge amount, people got angry against the corrupted.

• Anna Hazare took the Bill to the mass.

• Today is the day for the Parliament to rise. There is a reason why people are giving deadlines to the Parliament as we failed for 42 years to pass it

• It is our fault as well as the Bill was not passed during the NDA regime as well.

• It is a historic debate, let us do it peacefully

11.36 am: Parliament to debate for 7 hrs and beyond if required

11.32 am: RJD chief Lalu Prasad accuses the government of constitutional violation for bypassing the Standing Committee.

11.28 am: BJP’s L K Advani rises to speak:

• Urges the Speaker to allow maximum speakers to keep their view points.

• India’s democracy is at a crucial stage.

• We are at a crossroad

• Mukherjee asks LS to consider whether Lokpal will be applicable through the institution of the Lokayukt in all states.

• Whatever we do it should be the within the framework of Constitution

• The specific issues raised by Anna Hazare are important. In case a consensus arises, the Standing Committee will check the implementability and constitutionality.

• We are informally in touch with the Opposition leaders.

• PM authorised Salman Khurshid and I (Pranab Mukherjee) to talk to civil society.

•  We are also willing to consider inputs from Team Anna.

• In addition to the Lokpal law, other laws would be required to tackle corruption. e.g. — Judicial Accountability Bill etc.

• Wrote to CMs of 25 states and political parties to get their views on the Lokpal Bill

• Supremacy of the Constitution of the India has to be maintained

• Of the 40 basic principle we agreed on 20

• Six divergences between civil society and the government

• Debates on Lokpal within and outside House

•  Preliminary discussions were held to draft Lokpal

• Outlines the series of events on the Lokpal issue

• Urges Anna Hazare to end his fast