Cong dismisses Karat's charge on bringing PM under Lokpal

Congress today dismissed CPI (M)'s charge that it was reversing its own stand of bringing the Prime Minister under Lokpal purview.

Congress today dismissed CPI (M)'s charge that it was reversing its own stand of bringing the Prime Minister under Lokpal purview.

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"Who told Karat what is the Congress stand?" party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed asked at the AICC briefing, noting that the party would support the line of the government and Parliament on the issue. CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat had accused the Congress of reversing its own stand saying a parliamentary panel headed by senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee had made a recommendation in 2001 to bring the Prime Minister under the ambit of Lokpal.

Congress has so far remained ambivalent on the stand on the Lokpal issue, especially ticklish issues like bringing the PM under its ambit maintaining that it would go by the "collective wisdom" of Parliament. Karat has said that the Left parties will "insist" that the Prime Minister should be included as after all he was "not immune to the Prevention of Corruption Act". Ahmed said that it was a gratifying thing that yesterday's all party meeting saw alround support to the party stand of having a strong Lokpal.