Lokpal bill: UPA finds it tough to break Trinamool code

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress, a key ally of the UPA government, on Thursday hardened its stand against the Lokpal Bill, making it clear that it wanted the Centre to "delete" Part III of the legislation, which lays out the blueprint for the establishment of Lokayuktas in states, "in its entirety".

Dubbing the move to empower the Centre to legislate on an item contained in the concurrent list as "an assault on the country's federal structure", Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu S Roy, while participating in the debate on the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday evening, declared his party "opposed" the legislation only to the extent that it covered Part III, Clause 1 (1) and Clause 1(2).

"The voices of dissent have to be heard. It concerns the issues of autonomy of states and of our federal structure. We would request the government to delete Part III of the bill in its entirety," asserted Roy, whose party commands the support of six MPs in the Upper House.

Trinamool belligerence on the issue was being interpreted in political circles here as yet another manifestation of the increasing assertiveness by party supremo Mamata Banerjee in the Manmohan Singh government's governance agenda. There was realisation that, with the West Bengal party commanding the support of 19 members in the Lok Sabha, government managers would have to put up with her demands.

Not content with merely voicing their opposition to the bill, the Trinamool Congress, acting in tandem with the Biju Janata Dal and the Shiromani Akali Dal, had moved 37 amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill.

Political observes did not fail to notice that the speech made by the Trinamool Congress member in the Rajya Sabha was more hard-hitting than the one rendered by his party colleague, Kalyan Banerjee, in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Trinamool Congress members now believe that they were tricked into accepting the formulation mooted by the government to address their concerns on attempts being made to usurp the rights of states. The amendment moved by the ruling side in the Lok Sabha on the eve of voting on the bill merely said that the states would be consulted before drafting the Lokayukta law.

The Trinamool Congress chief, in fact, was said to be impressed with BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab's intervention during the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Lokpal Bill, and is said to have pulled her party's chief whip in the House for his rather weak espousal of their party's concern. An upset Kalyan Banerjee is subsequently learnt to have tendered his resignation from the post.

The upshot of all these developments was a hardening of stance on the issue of establishment of Lokayuktas by the states. Trinamool Congress MPs, in fact, are said to have boycotted a meeting convened by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday evening to persuade them to give up their resistance.

"On November 27, we were told that the government would come out with the Lokpal Bill. It suddenly became the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill after that. This is why my leader has directed us to oppose this bill to the effect that it relates to the Lokayuktas," Roy told the Rajya Sabha.

Justifying his party's decision to come out against a section of the bill, despite being a constituent of the ruling combine at the Centre and in West Bengal, Roy said that it was consistent with his leader's relentless fight against attempts to encroach upon the civil liberties of people, their fundamental rights and the constitutional principles.