Calling all people to join the protest on December 27 against the government’s delay in passing a strong Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption champion Anna Hazare said that the ability to sacrifice and the mindset to accept insults were the two important factors that helped people grow in their lives.
He also asked the people to fill the jails at the dawn of the new year if the government continued to be indifferent to the calls of the public on passing a strong Lokpal Bill, which according to him would at least help control 60 to 65 per cent of corruption in the country.
“I will not say that a strong Lokpal Bill will eradicate corruption completely. But if a person like me, who lives in a temple and owns just a plate and mattress, can throw out six ministers, why not each one of you toss out one corrupt person thereby cleansing the system,” he questioned.
Like grass that bends during floods to save itself, the youth should also be flexible to grow in life, he said, adding, “Be ready to accept insults. During floods, even tall trees are uprooted. So only those who give way live successfully.”
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No govt can guarantee bill passage: singhvi
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec. 18
Major political parties, like the Congress and BJP, and the regional parties, including the SP, BSP, JD(U), Trinamul Congress, DMK, CPI(M) and BJD, have not been able to convince people about why they want to have another power centre which can run a parallel government under the banner of the Lokpal and are falling into the Team Anna trap.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Congress and BJP are unsure of the passage of the Lokpal Bill in this session. Asked about the fate of the bill, a BJP parliamentary party official said, “We don’t know.”
The Congress, on the other hand, is maintaining silence on consideration and passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament next week. “A government can only bring a bill in Parliament. No government can guarantee its passage. Let us see how the forthcoming week evolves,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.
“Describing the entire political class repeatedly as ‘goondas’, or suggestions by other political parties or in the standing committee report as ‘worthless’ is not going to get a strong Lokpal Bill,” he said.