Tewari out of Par panel on Lokpal, BJP inducts two new members

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Under attack for his comments on
Anna Hazare, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari Wednesday
opted out of the Parliamentary Standing Committee going into
the Lokpal(anti-corruption ombudsman) issue even as BJP
inducted two new members in the panel being reconstituted
after its term ended on Wednesday.
Tewari, who had kicked up a controversy by accusing Anna
Hazare of being "steeped in corruption from head to toe" but
later apologised, opted out citing media reports that some
people have objected to his continuance in the Committee.
"I am all for a strong and effective Lokpal. I heard some
people objecting to my presence in the Committee. I do not
want any controversy to cast a shadow on the deliberations of
this important bill. I therefore recuse myself from the
Standing Committee," Tewari told PTI.
The BJP has retained Haren Pathak and D B Chandre Gowda
and has brought in Kirti Azad and Arjun Ram Meghwal, all four
from Lok Sabha(Upper House of Indian Parliament).
Party sources said Ram Jethmalani and Bal Apte, who were
earlier also members of the Committee, will continue.
Jethmalani was earlier on the panel as a nominated member.
The earlier two Bhartiya Janta party(BJP) members Jyoti
Dhurve and Devji M Patel do not find a place in the new
committee while Lok Sabha member Khagen Das will represent
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on the panel.
There could be many more changes in the membership of the
Committee from other parties as well.
Samajwadi Party had nominated Amar Singh as a member of
the Committee last time. Singh is no longer a party member.
There is no immediate word from the party on whom it is
going to nominate for the Committee, but Congress leader
Abhishek Singhvi, who is heading the Committee is likely to
continue as Chairman. Singhvi had taken over as the committee's Chairman only
about two months back replacing Jayanthi Natarajan, who was
made a minister.
Singhvi expressed ignorance about the members to be
renominated saying, "It is for the political parties concerned
and the Presiding Officers of both Houses to decide" and as
Chairman of the Committee, he has no role in appointment of
members or reconstitution of the committee.
He also declined to comment on the recusal of his party
colleague Manish Tewari from the 31-member committee saying he
was not aware of the development.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, Lok
Janshakti Party(LJP) President Ram Vilas Paswan, BJP leaders
Bal Apte, Harin Pathak and independent member Amar Singh as
also senior advocates Ram Jethmalani of BJP and Vijay Bahadur
Singh of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) are part of the outgoing
committee.
The next meeting of the Committee to examine the Lokpal
Bill is slated for September 7. Anna Hazare and his team have
already met the committee. Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal
and Prashant Bhushan also had an informal chat with Singhvi
last evening.