Will Lokpal Bill cover PM's office? Parties divided

New Delhi:  Anna Hazare and his team of activists have told the government that the new Lokpal Bill - intended to check corruption among government servants -must be passed in the winter session of parliament, which begins on November 22.

If that doesn't happen, they've warned, they will campaign against the Congress in states like UP that are headed for elections.

With just days to go before parliament meets, the Standing Committee which is reviewing different aspects of the Bill, has not found consensus on a critical feature - whether the PM's office should be covered by the Lokpal or the new ombudsman agency that will be created to investigate complaints of graft against bureaucrats and elected representatives.

The 31-member Standing Committee is headed by Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress; it has 10 members from the Rajya Sabha including Mr Singhvi and 21 from the Lok Sabha. Six positions in the committee are vacant at the moment, three each from both the Houses. 

Anna, who is the face of the India Against Corruption campaign, has said that the new law will be meaningless if it does not apply to the Prime Minister.  

The BJP, which has five members in the committee, has said it wants the PM's office to fall under the purview of the Lokpal.  Shailendar Kumar of the Samajwadi Party agrees.  The Left believes the Prime Minister should be covered by the Lokpal but wants safeguards on issues related to national security.  Pinaki Mishra, an MP from Naveen Patnaik's  Biju Janta Dal has the same opinion. 

The Left and the BJD, however, do not have a representation in the Standing Committee. 

Those opposed to the Lokpal having any jurisdiction over the Prime Minister's office include Mayawati's BSP, Bihar leaders Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad Yadav, and Independent MP Amar Singh who was expelled from the Samajwadi Party. All three parties have one member each on the panel. Mr Singh is also a part of the Standing Committee.

The Congress, which has eight members on the committee, is divided on the issue - Congress MP Arun Yadav supported their position.

But another Congress MP Shantaram Naik is in favour of including the PM; Arun Yadav is opposed to it; Meenakshi Natarajan agrees with what the government has suggested- that the Lokpal cannot investigate the PM while he or she is in office.

The Samajwadi Party, JD (U), DMK, AIDMK, Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) also have a member each on the panel.

There are three Independents MPs including Mr Amar Singh and one nominated member, Mr Ram Jethmalani.