Row won't affect drafting of Lok Pal Bill, says government

With the Congress party coming under attack over criticism of civil society members, the government today said controversies will not affect the working of the joint committee for drafting the Lok Pal Bill.

After a meeting of the Congress’ Core Group headed by party chief Sonia Gandhi and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government will work with civil society representatives in the panel to prepare a “strong and sound” anti-corruption legislation.

“Controversies have been raised about members of the joint committee on the Lok Pal Bill. I would like to make it clear that the view of government is also the view of the party, that the working of the Lok Pal Bill drafting panel won’t be affected by these controversies”.

“Government members of the committee look forward to working with Anna Hazare and his colleagues on the committee and to draft a strong and sound Lok Pal Bill to fight corruption,” he told reporters. Mukherjee’s remarks came after a 90-minute meeting of the Core Group that discussed the issues threadbare.