Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari,who had kicked up a controversy by accusing Anna Hazare of corruption but later apologised,has recused himself from the Parliament's Standing Committee that is going into Lokpal issue. I am all for a strong and effective Lokpal. 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 said on Wednesday. At the outset,he said,he had seen speculation in the press with regard to his continuance as a member of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on September 7. Two days before Hazare was due to commence his fast in Delhi on August 16,the Gandian was targeted by the Congress spokesperson for the first time when Tewari cited Sawant Commission report and accused him of being steeped in corruption from head to toe. A few days ago,Tewari,however,apologised for levelling allegations against Hazare and appealed to the Gandhian to call off his fast. But the apology by the Congress MP from Punjab did not cut much ice with Hazare since the anti-corruption crusader's lawyer Milind Pawar said a case of defamation would be filed against Tewari in a Pune court next week. I know some of my recent utterances have hurted Mr Hazare. I regret the same and I would like to appeal to him as a citizen of this country to end his fast.In the course of political cut and thrust,certain things are inadvertently said which cause pain, he had said. Tewari,while going ballistic against Hazare,had earlier also said Team Anna comprised armchair fascists,overground Maoists,closet anarchists funded by invisible donors. Tewari's comments had evoked strong reactions from Hazare's supporters. Meanwhile,the BJP inducted two new members in the panel being reconstituted after its term ended today. 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. Party sources said Ram Jethmalani and Bal Apte,who were also members of the Committee,will continue. Jethmalani was on the panel as a nominated member. The earlier two BJP members Jyoti Dhurve and Devji M Patel did not find a place in the new committee while Lok Sabha member Khagen Das will represent 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 ago replacing Jayanthi Natarajan,who is 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. RJD chief Lalu Prasad,LJP President Ram Vilas Paswan,BJP leaders Bal Apte,Harin Pathak and independent member Amar Singh,senior advocates Ram Jethmalani of BJP and Vijay Bahadur Singh of 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.
