Lokpal Bill toothless,says Karat

Karat said the Congress had betrayed its earlier stand that the Prime Minister should come under the Lokpal Bill.

The Congress was ready to include the Prime Minister in the ambit of the Lokpal Bill when non-Congress governments were in power at the Centre in 1980,1990 and 2001,he said and added that Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee,as the chairman of the standing committee for Lokpal in 2001,had recommended that the PM should be covered under the Lokpal.

Karat criticised the Congress stand that agitation against the Bill after it is being introduced in Parliament would be a protest against that body. It is a puerile argument. One can agitate any stand which hurt the democracy, he said.

Addressing another party function in Kannur,Kerala Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said the CPM would step up its agitation within and outside Parliament,demanding inclusion of the PM in the Lokpal Bill.