Taking a dig at MPs, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he has little faith in Parliament after seeing the debate over Lokpal Bill in Lok Sabha.
“They say (MPs) ‘have faith in Parliament’. My mother says ‘have faith in Lord Shiva’. I now tend to agree more with my mother,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Kejriwal on Friday reiterated that Anna Hazare’s fast against the “weak” Lokpal Bill will go on, no matter where it is held. Kejriwal said that Mumbai is Team Anna’s first choice for the fast but if there is any problem in getting the venue, then the fast can take place in any other city.
“The fast will take place. I am sure that there are enough places in the country to fast. The first preference is Mumbai,” said Kejriwal in an interview.
Kejriwal said that the plan to hold the fast before conclusion of the winter session is to keep the MPs under pressure over the Lokpal Bill.
“All that we are doing is that we are sitting outside. Parliament will discuss the Lokpal inside the House, and we are sitting outside and protesting,” said Kejriwal.
“It is a constant engagement with Parliament. Idea was to find a credible deterrence against corruption not to table the Lokpal Bill,” he said.
Kejriwal also said that he has serious doubt on the Government’s intent over the Lokpal Bill.
“There are doubts about the Bill being passed. The Government tabled the Bill eight times before. This is the ninth time the Government has tabled the Bill. After what happened yesterday, there are serious doubts that any bill would come out of the Lokpal, leave alone a strong Lokpal Bill,” said Kejriwal.
Advocating that the voice of Team Anna is the people’s voice, Kejriwal said, “There should not be any violence, but discussions. It’s a people movement, we are directly accountable to people.”
“In a democracy it’s good that there are divergent voices. All divergent voices are reaching Parliament. Now it’s for parliament to decide what’s wrong or right,” he added.
Talking on the issue of inclusion of the CBI, Kejriwal said, “The CBI’s independence is a legitimate question. We have raised what should be the selection process, removal process, suspension process. Bill in its present form is completely unworkable.”
