Becoming the first Chief Minister to question the need for a Lokpal,Sheila Dikshit today mounted a scathing attack against the idea of creating institutions which are unaccountable and adversely affecting the checks and balances already visualised in the Constitution. And unlike her Congress colleague Digvijaya Singh,the Delhi Chief Minister opposed moves to bring the office of the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal. The Prime Minister represents the party which has received the mandate of the people. It is for the party to decide whether the Prime Minister should be removed or not, Dikshit told The Indian Express. I am not against the Lokpal,but I want to know what is the purpose. We have a strong Constitution which has checks and balances in place,we also have institutions like the CBI,ED,CVC which have been effectively carrying out this work. We even have the Lokayukta,all elected representatives of the state under its scrutiny, she said. She said the decision whether to have a Lokpal or not should be left to Parliament and not a few individuals. I ask what is civil society? Is it just a clutch of people or just one person representing civil society? How do you define civil society? And how do you decide who should represent civil society? The will of the people is reflected through elections, she said. Slamming civil society activists,Dikshit said that politicians have more accountability than them. Politicians are the only people who go back to the people,if not each year,at least once in five years,to seek a mandate. If they are corrupt,they will not be voted back. And we have seen in the last few elections that people do come out to vote,it is not just a handful who queue up. We have seen 80 per cent voting in many areas, she said. In her reply to a questionnaire sent out by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,who heads the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill,Dikshit said: My government strongly believes that rather than creating institutions which are unaccountable and adversely affecting the checks and balances already visualised in the Constitution,it is advisable that existing institutions are further strengthened. What we probably need,more than anything else,is reforms in these institutions,to make them more transparent,and to upgrade their rules and regulations which sometimes are 50 years old. Instead of bringing the judiciary under the ambit of the Lokpal,we reform so that justice is delivered expeditiously. We should be more worried about eradicating corruption for the common man,making sure that he gets his driving licence,property registration and so on without having to pay a bribe, she said.
