Lokpal would cut corruption by half, but government doesn't want it: Anna Hazare

NEW DELHI: Making a strong pitch for a robust Lokpal, social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said if implemented effectively, it could help reduce corruption by 50%, "but the government does not want it".

Hazare said: "They don't want to let go of control over the class of officers who would come under the purview of Lokpal and Lokayukta. I wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this and the Centre's explanation was baffling. They say they don't have a leader of opposition so they cannot appoint Lokpal yet."

Hazare shared his views in a telephonic conversation from Ralegan Siddhi as he was unable to make it to a day-long seminar organised by India Against Corruption Volunteers Association due to ill-health. Expressing anguish over the delay in appointing a Lokpal, Hazare issued a subtle warning of "a churning" that could take shape of a fresh movement against corruption. "I think it's time to return to Ramlila Maidan once again. I don't know when that will be as yet, but for the next few months, we will go around the country and create awareness about Lokpal and electoral reforms to mobilise people," Hazare told TOI.

Hazare also talked of doing away with party symbols on EVMs. "The Constitution talks about individual candidates contesting the polls, but since the first elections in 1952, the basic spirit has been violated as party symbols are attached to identity of the candidate. This needs to stop and Election Commission needs to step in for this to happen." Hazare said once a candidate's name and photo made it to the EVM, people would try to find out more about them instead of just pressing the button based on a political party.

The Gandhian also dismissed the idea of doing away with EVMs and replacing them with paper ballots as "regressive in the age of information technology".

At the Delhi seminar, meanwhile, renowned jurist Fali S Nariman asserted that "a movement of the kind Anna Hazare led in 2011 and the momentum it gained is required now to bring both electoral and systemic reform". He added: "We believe in Lokpal: the Act is there but there's no Lokpal. The excuse given by the Attorney General to Supreme Court is that there is no leader of opposition so we cannot appoint a Lokpal. It is a peculiar logic. The problem is that no one wants a Lokpal." He said any person against whom charges were framed in a case should not be allowed to contest an election.

Former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian said "politics is a black market industry" and, hence, political parties don't want a system that could bring in checks and balances.