Rahul idea on Lokpal good but long term solution: Team Anna

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Rahul Gandhi's 'game changing idea' of making Lokpal a constitutional body like the Election Commission was supported by Team Anna which however felt it was only a long term solution while BJP asked the Congress leader to stop giving 'sermons'.

Key members of Team Anna at the same time termed Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Lokpal issue as 'disappointing' since he should have said something on immediate issues raised by the Gandhian with Kiran Bedi saying, 'you climb hills before you reach Mt Everest'.

"It’s a game changing idea," Rahul told reporters outside Parliament House after he broke his silence in the Lok Sabha on the Anna Hazare issue.

Welcoming Rahul's suggestion to give Lokpal a Election Commission-type status, Activist Medha Patkar said, 'I earnestly support it'.

Patkar said in spite of talking about the broad issue, the Congress General Secretary should have deliberated on the immediate issues raised by Hazare, whose fast for a strong Lokpal entered the 11th day today.

"Today's urgency and concerns for lakhs and lakhs of people have not been addressed," she said, adding, 'he did not comment on the Lokpal Bill that he should have courageously done'.

Kiran Bedi, Meanwhile, said, "The country is impatient for action and implementation and not a mere well-intentioned long plan on issues pending since independence.

"You climb hills before you reach Mt Everest. Lokpal is a tall hill which will take you to the Everest. Begin and prove the intention," Bedi said.

Another Team Anna member Justice Santosh Hegde said Gandhi's suggestion for a constitutional body looks like a 'five-year plan'.

"Until the constitutional body is established there should be a stautory body to eradicate corruption. If we go on waiting we will have to wait for another 42 years," he said.

BJP while criticising Rahul's speech said he should not give sermons to the nation but persuade the Prime Minister to bring changes in the Lokpal bill.

Earlier today, in his first comments on the nationwide debate on corruption, Gandhi told the Lok Sabha that the hotly contested bill was only 'one element' to eradicate corruption.

"Witnessing the events of the last few days it would appear that the enactment of a single bill will usher in a corruption free society. I have serious doubts about this belief.

"An effective Lokpal law is only one element in the legal framework to combat corruption. The Lokpal institution alone cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code," Gandhi said.

This led to an uproar, and Gandhi had to interrupt his speech for several minutes.

"We don't want Rahul's sermons. It is surprising that he is giving sermons to the nation but his party under Manmohan Singh is dilly-dallying on a strong Lokpal issue. We urge him to stop sermonising and persuade Prime Minister to bring changes in the Lokpal Bill," BJP leader Ananth Kumar said.