Kolkata: Denying any deal with the Congress on the issue of the Lokayukta, or ombudsman envisaged in the anti-graft Lokpal bill, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday said she felt that the ombudsman should remain a prerogative of the states.
"Some news channels were saying that there was a deal with the Congress regarding the Lokayukta in the Lokpal bill. But I want to say that there was no such deal. I don't believe in deals. I believe in transparent politics," Mamata said while addressing journalists in Kolkata.
"We have clearly stated that Lokpal is the matter of the centre [federal government] and Lokayukta is a matter of the state. The states should decide on the issue of Lokayukta. When our MPs protested in the Lok Sabha, they were told that an amendment would be done so that the states don't face any problem," she pointed out.
The amendment said that those states which did not want a Lokayukta could opt out, she said, but drew attention to a clause that binds committed states to a model set down in the central bill. "Why will we follow that model? I can make a better model," she said.
"I think that Lokpal should be made in a good way and if necessary all the parties should be brought together for consensus and I believe it can be done as most of the political parties are in favour of Lokpal," she said.
Mamata's Trinamool Congress, which supported the passage of the Lokpal bill in parliament's lower chamber, made a dramatic volte face just before the bill was to be moved in the upper house, demanding that the provision empowering the federal government to set up Lokayuktas for states be struck off.
"Some news channels were saying that there was a deal with the Congress regarding the Lokayukta in the Lokpal bill. But I want to say that there was no such deal. I don't believe in deals. I believe in transparent politics," Mamata said while addressing journalists in Kolkata.
"We have clearly stated that Lokpal is the matter of the centre [federal government] and Lokayukta is a matter of the state. The states should decide on the issue of Lokayukta. When our MPs protested in the Lok Sabha, they were told that an amendment would be done so that the states don't face any problem," she pointed out.
The amendment said that those states which did not want a Lokayukta could opt out, she said, but drew attention to a clause that binds committed states to a model set down in the central bill. "Why will we follow that model? I can make a better model," she said.
"I think that Lokpal should be made in a good way and if necessary all the parties should be brought together for consensus and I believe it can be done as most of the political parties are in favour of Lokpal," she said.
Mamata's Trinamool Congress, which supported the passage of the Lokpal bill in parliament's lower chamber, made a dramatic volte face just before the bill was to be moved in the upper house, demanding that the provision empowering the federal government to set up Lokayuktas for states be struck off.
