Anna starts Lokpal Bill referendum from Sibal’s backyard

The massive public campaign comes against the backdrop of numerous disagreements between civil society members and the government over intricacies of the draft law.

The forms were distributed in North-west Delhi wards of Chandni Chowk constituency like Nimri Colony,Wazirpur,Adarsh Nagar,Dhirpur,Paschim Vihar. Rampur,Shakurpur,Inderlok and Model Town,in a bid to galvanise public opinion.

The referendum has eight questions,including whether the Prime Minister’s office should be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal,and each question has four choices; one being Team Anna’s proposal,the other the government’s proposal,and the last two options to agree with both views or have no opinion at all.

“On one hand,there are Anna Hazare’s proposals and on the other hand,the government has made some of its own. We would be grateful if you could fill up the form and let us know your views,” read the referendum,which the activists would collect back from the residents on Sunday.

Question number 8 is,“how should your MP vote in Parliament?” seeks to know if “he should vote according to his party high command’s order” or if “he should vote according to the wishes of the people”.

“If the people vote for the civil society’s version then we will ask Sibal whether he will go by the party High Command order or people’s wishes,” said Ankit,one of the volunteers,adding that they target to approach around seven lakh house-holds in the constituency from where Sibal had won,by Sunday.

The Facebook page ‘Referendum on Janlokpal’ has called the door-to-door campaign as historic and says: “The government’s Lokpal Bill and Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill have major differences. So,we will go to people to know which one they want! Ultimately,the people of the country should decide what kind of ‘strong anti-corruption’ law-Lokpal the country should have.”

Ankit said they expect to publish the referendum results by July 27.

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal,an independent body that would investigate corruption cases,complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year.

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka),Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist),the draft envisages a system where person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated.