New Delhi, Nov 11: Congress today backed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's stand on the issue of the state Lokayukta Bill and said that elected representatives are “answerable” only to the people.
Kumar had yesterday said he does not require anybody's certificate in the crusade against corruption in the state, a stand which Congress spokesman Manish Tewari also supported.
“In Parliament and in (state) assemblies, elected representatives owe their answer to the people,” Tewari told reporters here.
“His (Nitish's) statement is self-speaking. At the root of his entire assertion is the fact that elected representatives owe their answers to the people,” Tewari said adding, “The essence of Kumar's statement is correct.” Nitish had reacted sharply to Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal's criticism of the Bihar Lokayukta Bill and asked Team Anna to be on guard against pre-judging the final outcome of the Bill.
A day after Chief Minister Nitishn Kumar hit back at Team Anna for its rap on the proposed Bihar Lokayukta Bill, his party JD(U) slammed it saying there was no place for language used by it in a democracy.
“The language used by Team Anna like - ‘There is only one truth and that is of ours' - and the sentiment reflects arrogance,” JD(U) spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari said in a press statement.
“There is no place for use of such language in a democracy,” Tiwari said.
“Team Anna is shining because of Anna Hazare, but it is living in a fool's paradise if the members think that they have the credibility to shine,” he said and referred to the air ticket controversy surrounding Kiran Bedi.
Bedi's role in the controversy was an “immoral and illegal act' and required no explanation, Tiwari said. He said the Lokayukta draft of the state had been prepared with extra care and there was no hurry in enacting the legislation on it as there is no pressure of assembly polls at present.
“It is not a final draft ... The government has invited opinions from public for fine-tuning the draft. Why is Team Anna desperate to give certificate on the issue?” He said the Nitish Kumar government had taken a number of initiatives which have become models for other states and the Centre and its fight against corruption was unquestionable.
The government had enacted a legislation with provisions to confiscate properties of corrupt public servants.
