A Bill to provide for the appointment of a Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against Union ministers was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill excludes the Prime Minister and the chief ministers from its purview. The Bill has been the subject of controversy ever since the government circulated a draft among leaders of Opposition parties. The Bill, in its present form, covers only Union ministers, ministers of states, deputy ministers or Parliament secretaries of the Union.
Punjab Poll Tickets
Congress (I) president Rajiv Gandhi is dissatisfied with the recommendations made by the Punjab Pradesh Congress (I) election committee for the 117 Assembly seats in the state and has appointed a two-man committee to meet the partymen and listen to their complaints. The Congress (I) high command had received a number of complaints against the recommendations of the election committee.
Sri Lanka Formula
India is hopeful of hammering out a formula that could form the basis for the resumption of talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil groups for the resolution of the ethnic problem of the island. This hope was voiced by Foreign Office sources after the series of talks that the Prime Minister and the foreign secretary had with the leader of the Sri Lankan delegation to the Thimphu talks, Hector Jayawardene, over the past three days.
Longowal case
The “United Akali Dal” leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi was questioned for about five hours by the Ludhiana senior superintendent of police, S S Bains, in Amritsar in connection with the assassination of the Akali Dal (L) president, Harchand Singh Longowal. Talwandi told UNI that he told the police he had nothing to do with the assassination of Longowal. He said Longowal had been his political opponent and not a personal enemy.
