JD-U wants effective Lokpal Bill

Janata Dal United (JD-U) Spokesperson K.C Tyagi said on Friday that they were completely in favour of the passing of Lokpal Bill.

"Our party is in favour of an effective Lokpal bill and we will completely support it," said Tyagi.

"There should undoubtedly be a discussion on it, but we are in support of the Lokpal Bill and think that it should be passed" he added.

The UPA Government is likely to table the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The demand for a Lokpal Bill was seen as a revolutionary anti-graft movement, which in 2011 not only drew tens of thousands of Indians united against corruption onto the streets, but also stopped parliamentary proceedings and dominated the headlines for days on end.

The India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, launched in December 2010, marked the first time in India that both the poor and the middle classes were united against corruption in such large numbers.

Over the past year, India has been transfixed by a campaign led by Anna Hazare to force the government to create an ombudsman, which would prosecute corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

Hazare's initial hunger strike brought millions of sympathisers out on streets and forced the government into a series of humiliating U-turns.

The proposed bill envisages the setting up of a national anti-corruption watchdog to check financial mismanagement and corrupt practices that have deeply pervaded several democratic and civic institutions of India.