Thrashing out at Anna Team, NGO activists, film stars and the electronic media, the two Yadavs, Sharad and Lalu Prasad said that they were trying to undermine the supremacy of Parliament and the democratic system of the country.
The duo criticised these groups for using “derogatory” language against MPs and “denigrating” the institution of Parliament.
On the Lokpal debate in Lok Sabha, they referred to their political struggles in the Jayaprakash Narain movement of the mid-seventies, while questioning the motives of Team Anna.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Yadav questioned the very purpose of the debate, saying that this amounted to a violation of Parliamentary supremacy in view of the fact that the Lokpal bill was already under the consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
“This is not the first time that Parliament is debating the issue of corruption. There is nothing historical about today’s debate. There should be no voting on the debate. The Parliament is supreme and its authority cannot be compromised. A wrong message must not go out of here,” said Lalu.
Alleging that Hazare’s team was misleading him for political gains, Lalu had the house in splits of laughter when he said, “We are experienced politicians and we do have a clear idea about what Team Anna is up to. Kapil Sibal can have a problem from Kiran Bedi in the next poll.”
Objecting to the “derogatory language” being used to relate to MPs by Team Anna’s Arvind Kejriwal and actor Om Puri, Lalu said that the campaign was entirely an NGO game.
“Yeh log chanda pani se apna jal pan karna chhahate hain. Yeh log hamen Qanoon sikha rahe hain” he said.
JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav vent his ire against a media which had made life impossible for politicians because of blind support to and non-stop coverage of the Hazare campaign.
He wondered why Congress MPs regularly visit TV studios, participate in discussions and subject themselves to scrutiny by “Bengali Babu Moshai”.
He called upon the government to “concede” the three demands and request the TV channel to stop the non-stop coverage. “This box is not allowing us to sleep,” Sharad said.
Amid frequent applause from all sections of the House, Yadav said, “The country is not run by discussions on television channels but by debates in Parliament”.
“Private news channels are so obsessed with Hazare that they have stopped showing other important news, especially floods in different parts of the country, particularly in eastern India.”
He also accused Anna Team for ignoring Baba Sahib Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule in whole agitation.
In Rajya Sabha Ram Vilas Paswan read out an article quoting Swami Agnivesh saying the people around Hazare were misleading him and that the movement was becoming anti-minority and anti-Dalit.
“This is not an issue of corruption, we all are against corruption. This is an attack on the interest of weaker sections, we are not going to let it happen. Why are NGOs kept out of Lokpal,” asked Paswan.
These leaders emphasised that the Lokpal selection committee must have adequate representation of the Other Backward Classes and Dalit.