Lokpal Bill

Anna Hazare burns lokpal

Oppositon continue protests
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Lokpal Bill introduced in parliament;
Civil society activists burn copies of Lokpal

New Delhi(August 4, 2011 ): The Lokpal Bill which seeks to reduce corruption introduced in parliament. Strong protests continue from the opposition.Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj BJP) opposed the introduction of the bill, demanding that the prime minister should be brought within its reach. It also excludes  judiciary and any action of an MPs in parliament or any parliamentary committee.The proposed lokpal does not bring under it the prime minister during his or her term in office. But once the prime minister demits office, he or she can be investigated for any corruption during the term, according to the bill's provisions.

"I cannot understand how anyone, sitting in any position, be a holy cow? In this Lokpal why is the prime minister out of it?" Swaraj asked in the house."I am happy that the prime minister himself had said that it is okay if he is brought within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. Then, why is the cabinet not paying heed to it?" she added.

Narayansamy defended  the bill, saying it has become the property of the house and it will immediately go to the parliamentary standing committee. "Parliament is supreme so the opposition by Swaraj cannot be sustained."Replying to Swaraj's statement that former PM A.B. Vajpayee had accepted to be within the ambit of anti-corruption law, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "I was chairing the parliamentary standing committee on anti-corruption bill in 2001."

To mark their protest, the civil society representatives of Anna Hazare Group burnt copies of the government's version of lokpal bill at several places in the country.

Sadananda Gowda will be new CM of Karnataka

sadananda gowda

Bangalore (3 Aug 11): Sadananda Gowda, 58, is an MP from Udupi Chikmagalur will be Karnataka's new Chief Minister.Gowda has also been an MLA and deputy leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly.

The BJP's 121 MLAs voted for Gowda through secret ballot at a legislature party meeting held at Bangalore's Capitol Hotel on Wednesday afternoon. BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh supervised the voting.

BSY

 

Earlier, MLAs were seen arriving in buses, cheering for Yeddyurappa. Another lot showed up brandishing the Victory sign - they were part of a camp of about 50 MLAs led by Ananth Kumar. The meeting was delayed as each leader sought to convince the central leaders that his man be the next CM. So divided is the BJP at the moment that there were differences even in the way the two camps wanted the voting done - the Yeddyurappa camp wanted open voting while the Ananth kumar camp favoured the secret ballot.

Mr Yeddyurappa quit on Sunday, days after the Santosh Hegde`s report on illegal mining severely indicted him and his family. In all that, Mr Yeddyurappa also made clear that while he was acceding to party wishes that he quit, only a person of his choice should be his successor.

santhosh hegde

The two rival BJP groups had been huddled in two different luxury hotels of Bangalore and each insisted that their man would be the next CM. Mr Yeddyurappa's group was quite sanguine that Sadananda Gowda would be picked.

Mr Yeddyurappa belongs to the powerful and dominant Lingayat community. The Ananth Kumar camp wanted Jagadish Shettar, also a Lingayat, to be CM to neutralise Mr Yeddyurappa's indubitable influence. On the other side, the Yeddyurappa camp was pushing for Sadananda Gowda, who is a Vokkaliga, another dominant community. Gowda in the saddle would also mean that Mr Yeddyurappa would remain the Lingayat strongman.