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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Parliament has credibility problem, targetting us won’t solve it: Arvind Kejriwal

Parliament has credibility problem, targetting us won’t solve it: Arvind Kejriwal

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published Published on Mar 27, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 27, 2012
-The Economic Times

Team Anna found itself an 'untouchable' when politicians across the aisle attacked it in Parliament for calling parliamentarians thieves and dacoits. It was a rare moment of unanimity in the Lok Sabha on Monday as outraged members condemned Team Anna saying it had crossed all limits of decorum by using such unparliamentary words during its day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. 

However, Arvind Kejriwal, who was in the eye of the storm, remained defiant saying that Parliament had a serious problem of credibility and targeting Team Anna was not the solution. He was responding to the nearly half-hour impromptu debate in the House, which was reconvened after lunch following frequent adjournments. 

Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said that Team Anna had lost its focus by speaking against democratic institutions. By speaking against elected members, the civil society activists were indirectly inviting dictatorship. 

While, on the one hand, team Anna wanted Parliament to pass the Lokpal Bill in the ongoing session, on the other, it was accusing MPs of being corrupt. "You cannot imagine democracy without Parliament... They want Lokpal to be passed in this session and are eroding the prestige of Parliament," she said. 

Recalling that her party had supported Hazare's demand for a strong Lokpal and took on the UPA government on the issue, Sushma Swaraj said Team Anna's disparaging comments on parliamentarians cannot be tolerated. She asked the team that if MPs were looters, corrupt and rapists, then why did Team Anna send three of its demands to be incorporated in a resolution passed by Parliament. 

JD(U) leader and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav, who was among the first politicians to go to Jantar Mantar during Hazare's agitation, said the chair bring a resolution condemning the remarks against MPs. "We have been fighting corruption for 30 years... I have been to jail... I have fought all my life," he said amid thumping of desks in the treasury benches. 

Yadav also pointed out that though Hazare was present during the token fast when his team members attacked parliamentarians, he was silent. Congress' Sanjay Nirupam, who agreed with Swaraj that the team should stay within the limits of decorum, expressed the suspicion that some outside powers were trying to destabilise Indian democracy through NGOs. 

He said while he too had earlier supported Team Anna's fight against graft, now it seemed that the group was waging a fight against the political class. Some NDA members were seen supporting his demand that a probe be ordered to ascertain who was supporting team Anna. 

Within hours, Kejriwal called a press conference to retaliate. He said that the same Constitution that had given parliamentarians the right to make laws for the entire country had given the right to team Anna to protest. 

"When people in a cinema hall stand up and clap while watching 'Pan Singh Tomar,' when there is a dialogue that there are dacoits sitting inside Parliament, there is a serious need to introspect. Targeting us and punishing us for flagging certain issues is not the solution." He said, "...If people are losing faith in Parliament, then it is a serious problem of credibility. They should introspect."


The Economic Times, 27 March, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/parliament-has-credibility-problem-targetting-us-wont-solve-it-arvind-kejriwal/articleshow/12420919.cms


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