Political Initiatives and People's Participation can fortify the Spirit of Lokpal.

Initiating their dialogue with political parties, the Anna Hazare team met 
senior BJP leader L.K. Advani 

Anna Hazare meets BJP top brass on Lokpal Bill

Source: News Bharati  | Date: 7/1/2011 8:07:59 PM | eNews Bharati.

BJP today made its first serious move to engage on the Lokpal Bill issue with its top brass discussing the two drafts of the proposed legislation and the impact of bringing MPs and higher judiciary in its ambit with civil society activists led by Anna Hazare.

Hazare, along with his team members Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, went to the BJP headquarters here for a meeting with LK Advani and ten other top party leaders, who assured him that the opposition party was fully committed to a "strong and credible" Lokpal.

During the one-and-a-half hour meeting, also attended by Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, the civil society members apprised the BJP leaders of the points of differences between their draft and the draft of the government representatives led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Both maintained that there was no discussion on including the Prime Minister within the ambit of the Lokpal. Team Anna has been making a strong pitch for such a move.

The opposition's main concern was whether the MPs would continue to enjoy the legal immunity they do for acts done in Parliament once the Lokpal is appointed.

"We were asked whether constitutionally it is possible to have the Lokpal and Lokayukta under the same Bill and about Article 105 (2) of the Constitution (which deals with immunity to MPs for their actions in Parliament). There were a lot of technical questions which were asked," Kejriwal said.

Both the BJP and the civil society members agreed that the Bill should ensure a mechanism by which people of "integrity and independence" are appointed as Lokpal.

After the meeting, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party is "fully committed to a strong and credible Lokpal".

With government having convened an all-party meeting on July 3 to discuss the issue, BJP chose to keep its cards close to its chest, refusing to divulge areas of disagreement with the government and Jan Lokpal drafts.

Talking against black money & corruption is not crime, but people's rights.

Nitin Gadkari wedged a severe attack on Manmohan Sing over his statements during the meet with select editors

Is it a crime to talk against black money & corruption ? – Gadkari asks PM

Source: News Bharati | Date: 6/29/2011 9:39:54 PM | eNews Bharati.

New Delhi, June 29 : The BJP president Gadkari today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the views aired by him during his interaction with select editors, terming him as “failed” economist. Taking strong objection to the PM’s remarks on Baba Ramdev & Ramleela ground incident, he asked the PM, “is it a crime in India to talk against black money & corruption?” Also referring to the fuel price hike, he quipped that the congress government does not want the common man to live.

The BJP president, reacting to the Prime Ministers select press meet on Tuesday, said that the quandary the government is currently in, is of its own making.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Nitin Gadkari took strong exception to PM’s allegation that the Opposition is ‘not cooperating’ and instead alleged that the government did not consult them before starting parleys with the civil society over Lokpal bill.

He said, “We were not taken into confidence and now when they are in a fix, they remember us and accuse us of noncooperation.”

Gadkari said that the BJP will take a stand (on the Lokpal Bill) after it is tabled in Parliament.

Referring to PM’s statement that the Ramdev episode was unfortunate but unavoidable, Gadkari said, “Is it a crime to talk against black money and corruption? When the people, by and large, had not taken single stone in their hands, then why did the police attack them? Is this good for democracy?”

He quipped further, “The PM should explain why such an action was taken. Government ministers go to the airport to escort Ramdev and within four days your people call him thug? Now they say that same will happen with Anna Hazare. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi should explain what type of democracy they want in the country,” the BJP president added.

On the issue of the government’s perceived failure to check rise on prices of essential commodities, Gadkari said, “The economist PM has failed in the examination.”

Referring the recent fuel price hike, Gadkari said the move was unwarranted for, and could have been avoided. He said that the LPG prices should not have been hiked as the prices are exorbitant & are going out of reach of the common man.

He opined that inflation is high because of wrong economic policies of the government. “Rs 70 thousand crores worth of food grain is rotting. Why can’t the government distribute it to the poor?” he asked.

(Readers can access the official transcript of Prime Minister's talk with the select editors by clicking here.)