BJP, Cong at loggerheads over appointment to Lokpal panel
6 Feb 2014 6:02 AM IST
The BJP leader Sushma Swaraj met President to lodge her protest against the appointment of Supreme Court lawyer PP Rao in the Lokpal Selection panel.
‘I went to meet President to seek his support for a consensus on the issue after differences emerged over the name of the Supreme Court lawyer. We want his intervention in to the matter,’ she said.
On Tuesday Swaraj expressed her annoyance over the appointment of Rao, whom she feels a Congress loyalist, and have decided to lodge her protest at the manner in which the government pushed for his nomination. She also stressed that a ‘Congress loyalist’ should not be in the panel to ensure its neutrality.
It was learnt that Swaraj has suggested the names of former attorney general K Parasaran, former solicitor general Harish Salve or even eminent jurist Fali Sam Nariman instead of Rao. However, in meeting which happened on Monday Swaraj was outvoted 3-1 on the choice of Rao as a member of the Lokpal selection panel.
Sources said, BJP was stressing on Nariman, who is awarded with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said that they are not going to accept prime minister’s choice of a jurist for the panel that will select the national anti-corruption ombudsman.
Earlier, on Monday Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and Justice HL Dattu (who is Chief Justice P Sathasivam’s nominee on the panel) voted in favour of Rao.
Meanwhile, BJP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad blamed Manmohan Singh for the row and accused him of having ‘failed’ in his duty on the Lokpal appointment issue.
‘I went to meet President to seek his support for a consensus on the issue after differences emerged over the name of the Supreme Court lawyer. We want his intervention in to the matter,’ she said.
On Tuesday Swaraj expressed her annoyance over the appointment of Rao, whom she feels a Congress loyalist, and have decided to lodge her protest at the manner in which the government pushed for his nomination. She also stressed that a ‘Congress loyalist’ should not be in the panel to ensure its neutrality.
It was learnt that Swaraj has suggested the names of former attorney general K Parasaran, former solicitor general Harish Salve or even eminent jurist Fali Sam Nariman instead of Rao. However, in meeting which happened on Monday Swaraj was outvoted 3-1 on the choice of Rao as a member of the Lokpal selection panel.
Sources said, BJP was stressing on Nariman, who is awarded with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha said that they are not going to accept prime minister’s choice of a jurist for the panel that will select the national anti-corruption ombudsman.
Earlier, on Monday Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and Justice HL Dattu (who is Chief Justice P Sathasivam’s nominee on the panel) voted in favour of Rao.
Meanwhile, BJP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad blamed Manmohan Singh for the row and accused him of having ‘failed’ in his duty on the Lokpal appointment issue.
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