Lokpal: Neither Congress nor Team Anna holds the aces

This is an interesting game of poker –  the Lokpal game, which has the Congress and Team Anna as the last two at the table, with the BJP watching intently. All three, Congress, Team Anna and BJP, are playing as if they hold the aces in this win-or-bust battle.[caption id=“attachment_145469” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare. Reuters”]  [/caption] If the FDI imbroglio continues, resulting in a loss of hours in Parliament, where does that leave the Lokpal Bill? Once the Standing Committee has finalised the draft, it needs to be placed in both Houses of Parliament—and passed—in the winter session, thanks to a commitment made by all political parties in the effort to break Anna Hazare’s August fast. The problem is, Parliament will certainly debate the draft point by point, and there is no guarantee of smooth passage for the bill. There are changes that will be demanded – and these will have to be discussed and negotiated. “The Parliamentary panel examining the Lokpal bill on Wednesday agreed to bring 70 percent of the Central government employees under the purview of the anti-graft watchdog—a key demand of Team Anna—but remained divided on issues such as making the PM accountable to the regulator,” says Hindustan Times. Presuming the political parties thrash out a compromise, that still leaves the situation in a flux – will the Lokpal Act meet Team Anna’s definition of a ‘strong’ and ’effective’ law? The answer is a firm ’no’. As things stand today, there are major differences that seem to be unbridgeable:  the inclusion of the prime minister, the inclusion of Group D employees and bringing the CBI under Lokpal. So Anna Hazare will probably have to start an agitation on 27 December. That’s the end of the poker game – and both players will have to ‘show’. While Team Anna may not call the Lokpal Bill ‘strong’, will the citizens of the country agree with Team Anna? If they do, they’ll support the agitation – and if they do not, they will not. Much has happened since the August fast. We’ve had Arvind Kejriwal’s issue with the income-tax department, we’ve had Kiran Bedi’s over-invoicing embarrassment, Prashant Bhushan’s views on Kashmir and Anna Hazare’s rejection of the view, the reaction of Anna Hazare to Sharad Pawar being slapped – all of which, severally and together, have tarnished the image of the anti-corruption brigade and movement. It’s been a tiring six months for citizens of the country, starting with the April fast of Anna Hazare, the long-playing 2G scam, inflation in general, petrol price increases and, recently, the FDI faceoff. How much of a stomach do they have for another long-drawn battle between the government and Team Anna? It’ll boil down to one simple aspect: the definition of ‘strong’ in the opinion of the citizens, which will aid them in a decision on whether a tiring battle is worth the trouble. It’s the citizens of the country who hold the aces – not the Congress and not Team Anna.