The thumping irony

New Delhi, Dec. 22: The irony of political predicament beat a tattoo on the venerable desks of the Lok Sabha today.
The majority of members lustily thumped the piece of furniture before them whenever somebody attacked or ridiculed Team Anna, under whose pressure the Lokpal bill was introduced today though the government would not say so.
Almost all MPs, with the exception of BJP members, showed signs of unease with the haste in cobbling together the legislation and certain provisions in it. They cheered an incisively critical Lalu Prasad who claimed the mandate of "all MPs" to speak on their behalf.
Most senior leaders cutting across party lines, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, thumped the desk as and when any speaker spoke of Team Anna's attempt to dictate to Parliament.
But the government's formal response came neatly wrapped in a miserable irony as the leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, confronted charges of "undue haste" and sought to take credit for tabling the Lokpal bill.
Asserting that there was no question of acting "under duress", he reminded the House that work on the bill started way back in April and the deadline was born out of the parliamentary commitment given to the nation.
However, even Mukherjee could not suppress his true feelings for long. He emphatically declared that laws were not made on the street and only the will of the majority in Parliament will decide the contours of Lokpal.
Responding to CPI's Gurdas Dasgupta who taunted Mukherjee for surrendering to Team Anna, the Congress veteran said: "Those who advise me to be strong should ask their leaders why they joined the agitators' dharna manch. They should advise their leaders to be strong, not me." CPI leader A.B. Bardhan, along with CPM's Brinda Karat and some NDA leaders, had gone to Anna's stage to debate Lokpal.
The majority of small parties firmly opposed the inclusion of the Prime Minister, evoking another round of frenzied applause from the treasury benches, which left few in doubt that the clause was added under duress despite claims to the contrary.
Strong sentiments like Lokpal weakening the institution of the Prime Minister, undermining the nation's prestige and creating perpetual concerns about stability drew loud cheers. Still, the Prime Minister has been included, no less ironical.
The government contested the contention of the leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj, that the bill be withdrawn because of unconstitutional provisions like reservation for minorities and violation of federal spirit. Mukherjee said Parliament should leave these issues for judicial interpretation.
While the Shiv Sena was the only party that rejected the very concept of Lokpal, parties like the Janata Dal (United), BJD, TDP, AIADMK, CPI and the CPM raised concerns about encroachment upon federalism because of a clause that requires states to set up Lokayuktas.
A fierce debate broke out as the government had deleted minorities from the quota list following the BJP's objection, which pointed out that the Constitution did not allow reservation on the basis of religion.
But parties like the SP, BSP, RJD and NDA ally JD(U) kicked up a storm, forcing the Congress core committee to revisit the subject and restore the minority quota through corrigenda which curiously corrected 46 errors ' another sign of the haste.
The BJP's Yashwant Sinha objected to an amendment being passed off as a correction but Mukherjee shrugged it off, pointing out the minority provision figured in the original bill.
The bill was finally introduced by minister of state for personnel and training V. Narayansamy and will be taken up for discussion and passage on December 27. After the Lok Sabha passes it, the Rajya Sabha will take it up.
Although the government is hoping that the bill will be passed before December 29, many members expressed doubts and wondered what would happen if the parties did not issue whips.
When Lalu Prasad dared Mukherjee not to issue a whip, he retorted: "Who is issuing whips?" But whips will be issued by the ruling parties as well as others.
A related Constitution amendment bill to grant the proposed ombudsman a constitutional status was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Some Congress leaders expressed surprise at Swaraj's strong opposition to the introduction of the bill and wondered whether the BJP planned to scuttle the passage on the ground that it was "unconstitutional and patently illegal".
Sushma said the language, "not less than 50 per cent" reservation of the Lokpal members, is unconstitutional as this would mean five of the nine slots being reserved whereas several Supreme Court orders laid down that the quota limit would not exceed 50 per cent.

It was known long ago that these crooks who call themselves MPs would not allow easy passage of the Lokpal bill.
How could they?
It would be asking them to give up their licence to loot the country.
It is going to be a long drawn out battle.
I think Anna will have to undertake his fast once again.
The MPs are making a mockery of the assurance they themselves had earlier given to Anna.
With hardly 10% of the votes of a constituency, they think it gives them the licence to do what they want, overriding the feelings of the people.
An amendment to the constitution is urgently required which will allow an MP to be elected only after he gets 5o% of the votes of a constituency, whether it be second or third or fourth preference votes.
Further, there should be provision for rejection of all candidates if we find none of the scums suitable.
In such case the President should appoint suitable candidates to represent that constituency.