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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Why two Lokpal drafts, asks Nitish

-The Times of India
 
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Thursday questioned the Centre's decision of sending two drafts of Lokpal bill to the states for consideration and demanded that the government clarify its stand before seeking states' views on the proposed anti-corruption legislation.

Speaking after a meet with civil society group on the Lokpal issue, Kumar said he would discuss the matter with his party and ally BJP. "Let the government tell us what its views are. Why two drafts are being sent to states for views. First, the government should make its stand clear. Then only we can comment on it," he said.

Asked whether his party would attend the all-party meeting, he said he would discuss the matter with other party leaders.

"There was a discussion with Anna Hazare and others on the issue of setting up Lokayukta in states. We had a discussion on the matter. I will have a discussion within my party (JD-U) and with allies. I will also invite Hazare and others to Patna to discuss the issue," he said.

Kumar's announcement came after activists Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia had a meeting with the CM at Bihar Niwas for drumming up support for their version of the Lokpal bill.

Without going into details, he said the scope of the ombudsman should be comprehensive and the need was for a strong legislation to eradicate corruption.

Commending Kumar on the steps taken by him in checking corruption, Hazare said the Bihar CM had already initiated many things which the civil society's Lokpal bill envisages.

Kejriwal said Kumar told the team that he would "explore the possibility" of setting up a Lokayukta in the state and will invite them to Bihar for further discussions.

Bedi termed the meeting as "extremely positive" and said the CM was willing to engage civil society in a constructive manner. She said Kumar told them that one could not deal with civil society in a "controlled, laboratory-like" fashion like the UPA government was doing and he was for a purposeful engagement with them.

"This is the first time some leader is coming in public saying he would take effective steps to set up a Lokayukta in the state. This is a wonderful initiative," Bedi said.