PM writes to Anna, says political consensus needed for right to reject

New Delhi: Declaring government's commitment to a strong Lokpal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said Anna Hazare's demand for 'Right to Reject' provision in electoral law needs political consensus.

Even as Hazare came out against the Congress in the Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll, the Gandhian and the Prime Minister exchanged letters on Lokpal and measures to fight corruption and other issues like electoral and judicial reforms in the last 20 days.

"As you are aware, we are committed to enacting a strong Lokpal law and we hope that we will succeed in this in the near future. However, our government is working on a broad agenda to fight corruption and bring in administrative reforms," Singh said in a letter to Hazare written yesterday.

He was replying to Hazare's letter of September 21 in which he had flagged several issues including Lokpal, electoral reforms and strengthening of grass roots institutions.

"In this several legal, administrative and technical aspects will be included. Establishment of the Lokpal is part of this broad agenda," Singh said.

Referring to Hazare's demand for including the provision of right to reject candidates through the option of 'none of the above' in the voting system, saying in a democratic society a political consensus was necessary on such issues.

"Our government is actively considering various proposals related to electoral reforms. Among the proposals being considered is the 'right to reject' which you have mentioned.

"In a democratic society, a political consensus is necessary on some issues. We want to discuss several proposals on electoral reforms with all political parties and act on proposals on which there is broad agreement," Singh said.

Hazare had demanded in another letter dated September 23, that the Prime Minister should write to Chief Ministers of all Congress-ruled states to pass a Bill for establishment of a Lokayukta.

Hazare maintains that the government had promised him during his fast at Ramlila grounds that Lokayuktas would be set-up in states.

"You had assured that order will be issued to Congress-ruled states for setting up Lokayuktas. According to the assurance, written orders should be sent to Chief Ministers of all Congress-ruled states," Hazare had said.

In his reply dated October 7, Singh drew Hazare's attention to the in-principal agreement in Parliament on August 27 on establishment of Lokayukta in states.

"This consensus in Parliament has also been sent to the Standing Committee so that it can consider them during their deliberations. I hope you will agree with me that before going ahead we should first let Parliament complete the process of enacting a Lokpal law," Singh said.

The Anna effect: Bhopal auto driver returns jewels worth lakhs

Bhopal: Thousands of people participated in the rallies triggered by Anna Hazare's recent anti-corruption campaign. But how many of us came back home convinced that we would be able to say no to graft or easy money? At least a poor autorickshaw driver in Madhya Pradesh did.
In a rare display of honesty an auto-rickshaw driver in Hoshangabad, returned jewellery worth over Rs 2 lakh he had found accidentally almost five years ago.
The driver, Kedar Bamre, went to the city police on Monday and surrendered the jewels, exhorting the cops to find its real owners.
He mustered the courage to disclose the guarded secret after five years after joining the public protests against corruption that were held in the city to support Hazare's campaign.
Bamre told police that his conscience had been pricking him ever since the joined the Gandhian leader's anti-corruption campaign.
"I couldn't sleep at night after shouting in the streets against corruption. The fact that I had kep jewels that were not mine kept haunting me," he told police.
In 2006, while he was driving his auto near a railway overbridge in Hoshangabad, Bamre saw a bag fall from a motorbike in front of him.
While the bike sped away, Bamre picked up the bag and found it to be full of gold jewellery.
Since no one had seen him picking up the bag, and there was no claimant around, he brought the jewels home.
For five years he kep them hidden as savings for the family.
But a few weeks ago, Bamre decided to find the actual owner. But it wasn't easy. His wife and four children protested the decision, saying the jewels were the only deposits they had.
But on Monday he decided to listen to his conscience and approach the police.
Confirming the story, station head officer (SHO) Kotwali SK Singh told the media, "We have initiated a probe to locate the real owner. We would look at records to find out if a report was filed in 2006 for the missing jewellery," he said.