Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Opposition for having stalled the passage of the Lokpal bill in Parliament. He also said that the Congress would “not rest till a strong law is passed”.
Maintaining that the BJP was the main culprit, Mr Gandhi said the party which used to talk about “shining India had actually defeated the proposed legislation. “I had called for ensuring Lokpal a constitutional status on the lines of the Election Commission. But those who had given the slogan of India Shining defeated the legislation giving Lokpal constitutional status,” he said while addressing an impressive election meeting in the UP town on Friday.
Mr Gandhi reminded the gathering assembled there that the Opposition had done the same thing when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi wanted to give constitutional status to panchayati raj institutions (PRI) legislation earlier. He also took a dig at the Opposition by saying “they had opposed Rajiv Gandhi when he wanted to bring computers and telephones to villages, which he wanted to change the fortune of poor for the better”.
Directly communicating with the crowd, the young leader asked one of the youth present in the rally if he knew due to whose policy he had a cellphone now. Answering the question, Mr Gandhi said it was Rajiv Gandhi’s telecom policy of 1985. He further asked, “Are you people benefiting from computers and telephone?”, to which the crowd replied in the affirmative.
Mr Gandhi said he was of the view that the strongest Lokpal would be one with constitutional status. “But they defeated it in Lok Sabha and when asked by reporters, they said they did so as it was Rahul’s dream. This is not Rahul’s dream but the dream of the country’s youth and we will rest only after brining it,” he asserted.