Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor
New Delhi: A day after the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned to go to any extent to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in the state assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party convener on Sunday held his desired Jan Lokpal and Swaraj bills more important than any post and threatened to resign if the anti-graft legislation was not passed. Kejriwal said that he is ready to sacrifice the CM`s seat a hundred times to remove corruption from the country.
Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj Bill will be tabled on the floor of the Delhi Assembly on February 13, Kejriwal said, further adding that the AAP intends to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on February 16. On being asked what he will do if the two bills does not get the support of the Congress, whose continued support is essential for the survival of his government, Kejriwal said that the government will fall if the bills are stalled and told that he did not come here (join politics) to become the CM.
The AAP had earlier said that the Central government`s prior clearance was not required for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal contended that the Constitution provides the Delhi government to pass any law except for the law related to police, law and order and land.
The AAP government has also written to the home ministry seeking withdrawal of its 2002 order which directs the Delhi government to take approval of the ministry before passage of any bill in the assembly. Both the Congress and the BJP attacked the Delhi government for trying to pass the anti-corruption bill in an unconstitutional manner.
Kejriwal asserted that both the parties are not allowing the passage of the bill and said that Congress has become more keen on stalling the bill since his party decided to probe the alleged corruption in Commonwealth Games projects. Adding that there are also allegations of corruption against the BJP, which is in power in MCD for past seven years.
Meanwhile, DPCC chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said that the Congress is ready to back the Jan Lokpal Bill if it was brought with laid down procedures. Lovely said, “Congress has always maintained that it will support the Jan Lokpal Bill. Our only request to the AAP government is to follow the rules and respect the Constitution. The CM is not above the Constitution.”
Calling Kejriwal`s threat to resign a shrewd tactic, Lovely said that the Chief Minister is running away from responsibilities and that nobody is above the law.
The DPCC chief maintained that transaction of business rules for tabling any bill by Delhi government were finalised during the NDA rule in 2002 and they were even laid on the floor of Parliament.
He asserted that any bill having financial implication has to be cleared by the Centre before introduction in the Assembly.
Kejriwal made an impressive debut in the Delhi Assembly election riding on the anti-corruption wave and pre-poll promises in which he vowed to end corruption through the Jan Lokpal Bill.
