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AGP opposes �weak� Lokpal Bill

By Spl correspondent

NEW DELHI, Dec 29 � Terming the Lokpal Bill weak, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has opposed it, asking the Centre to bring a fresh Bill to fight corruption effectively.

Participating in a debate on Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011 in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, AGP MP Biren Baishya welcomed the Government�s initiative, asserting that there were lots of problem not only at the Centre but also in the States. �Assam also has been facing lots of problems because of corruption,� he claimed.

�Government should come up with a strong Lokpal Bill,� Baishya demanded.

Stating that AGP has been maintaining a constant stand on corruption, Baishya recalled that in 1996, the UF Government�s Bill had also proposed to bring the Prime Minister under the purview of Lokpal. �We are for a strong Lokpal at the Centre and a strong Lokayukta in the State,� he said.

Baishya, who moved an amendment to the Bill, supported the Opposition�s demand to bring CBI under the purview of the Lokpal. �All governments at the Centre have misused the CBI. The investigation agency and its investigation should be brought under Lokpal without which the Bill would be useless,� he said.

The AGP MP proposed that a committee headed by the Prime Minister and which includes the Opposition Leader and a member of the Lokpal, should appoint the CBI director. The regional party opposed the proposal to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the selection committee.

Baishya said AGP also supported the Opposition�s demand to include lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the Lokpal and Lokayukta.

The regional party which has two MPs in the Upper House, has been acting in tandem with its old UF partners like the Left Front and the SP and also talking to regional outfits like Trinamool Congress. The decision to move an amendment was taken after an understanding with the CPI-M, said sources.

In the Lok Sabha too on Tuesday Joseph Toppo said in view of large-scale corruption, the Government should bring in such a Bill so that the millions of rupees deposited in the foreign banks could be brought back to the country.

The Bill brought up by the Government for checking corruption is not in a position to do so. Therefore the Government should bring in such a Bill, which will be fully able to eradicate corruption in real sense, he said.

Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary, participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha, opposed the proposal to include the Prime Minister under Lokpal, reasoning that the Prime Minister is the Executive Head of the Indian Government.

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