BHUBANESWAR: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal’s denunciation of the political class continued on Saturday when he called for ‘purification of politics’ for passage of the Lokpal Bill. The Lokpal Bill has been stuck since Winter Session of Parliament, awaiting sanction from the Rajya Sabha after certain amendments. Kejriwal said the anti-corruption legislation cannot be passed in Parliament where 162 members have criminal cases against them. Similarly, 16 members of the Cabinet are facing criminal charges, so how can you expect the political leadership to allow the Bill to be passed, he wondered addressing a meeting of volunteers here. The RTI activist, who had courted controversy for similar statements in the past, said one way of purging politics in India is by supporting good and clean candidates as members of the legislatures. However, just electing 540 good MPs will not be enough because the country still needs an investigating agency to tackle corruption, he said justifying the need of the ombudsman bill. Kejriwal also linked the political purification to RTI movement in the country. He said unless and until political purification takes place, RTI movement will remain muted in India because the governments will nominate information commissioners, who will sit on information, and appeals will pile up. The Team Anna strategist also said the core committee ‘India Against Corruption’ will be expanded to make it pan-Indian. He also dismissed reports that Anna Hazare could be a presidential candidate saying the anti-corruption crusader does not want to be President since he has no interest in such positions. When someone asked about three separate units of India Against Corruption running in Odisha, the activist said the outfits could sit down and sort it out among themselves and he has no time for such reconciliation.
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