Rahul Gandhi urges all parties to pass Lokpal bill, says it is a serious weapon ... - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: In an apparent bid to counter the Aam Aadmi Party's anti-corruption poll strategy, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to allow the passage of the long-pending Lokpal Bill.

At a press conference held at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, Gandhi requested all political parties to come together and give the country a "framework" and a "weapon" to fight corruption. Though he denied that the Press meet had anything to do with the recent poll rout for the Congress at the hands of Kejriwal's fledgling AAP, the sense of urgency was apparent.

Gandhi said, "It is not about victory or defeat. The fact is that there is a requirement for this Bill. It will help India in fighting corruption. We are on the finishing line. What we would like is for political parties to put aside their concerns and pass the Bill. All political parties should support this."

The Bill, which was referred back to the Rajya Sabha from the select committee, is slated for discussion in the Upper House on Monday. The Samajwadi Party has clearly stated that it was opposed to the Bill. On a specific query on Samajwadi Party's opposition, senior minister P Chidambaram, who was also present at the meet, said, "It is possible that one or two political parties have reservations. I don't think any political party would say there should be no Lokpal. They might have reservations about one or two clauses. But our appeal to them is please keep aside the reservations and help us pass it."

Congress has been facing a lot of flak for corruption scandals, including Commonwealth Games organisation, spectrum allocation scam and coal block allocation. Saturday's press conference is only his second since he took over as vice-president in January. The last one was a brief interaction on the day he took charge as vice-president.

So far, Gandhi has refrained from making any public statements on major political issues. However, after the election results on December 8, the heirapparent has already taken the initiative and come out with statements on the urgent need to reconnect with the masses. He has also spoken in favour of gay rights after the Supreme Court of India overruled a 2009 High Court verdict, which had decriminalised consensual gay sex between two adults.

via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNF0yB9hwCP_SmAkSCOQ12M3P9Di2g&url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rahul-gandhi-urges-all-parties-to-pass-lokpal-bill-says-it-is-a-serious-weapon-against-corruption/articleshow/27367584.cms