 The Congress on Thursday decided to boycott the meeting of the Lokpal Selection Committee, with leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge refusing the government’s offer to attend it as a special invitee.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Kharge said that a special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the voice of the opposition in Lokpal selection.
As per the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, only the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha is a member of the Selection Committee and since Kharge does not have that status, he is not a part of the panel.
The Government had invited him for Thursday’s meeting of Selection Committee as a special invitee.
Mr Kharge said that if the government is serious about the appointment of the anti-corruption watchdog, it must bring an ordinance in the shape of an amending bill, which he also sent along with his letter.
He alleged that while the Government has brought out amendments in other Acts to replace the Leader of Opposition to leader of single largest party in opposition, it has not done so in the Lokpal Act.
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