NEW DELHI -- Staging 14 demonstrations across the capital on Sunday, the Congress Party ratcheted up the pressure on the Aam Aadmi Party government to constitute a Lokpal (anti-corruption ombudsman) for Delhi within 15 days.
While alleging wrongdoing on the part of 29 AAP leaders, Ajay Maken, Congress Party president for Delhi, said that there is no avenue to register complaints since the post of the Lokayukta has been vacant since November 2013.
Maken mocked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by recalling that the first AAP government claimed to have stepped down because it was blocked from passing the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill) in February 2014.
At the time, BJP controlled 32 seats in the Delhi Legislative Assembly followed by AAP (28), Congress (8) and two others. Now, AAP controls the house with 67 seats followed by BJP with three seats.
Oct' 13 Tweet of AK-
He Promised Lokpal in 85 days
49+168 days passed-No Lokpal
2MLAs arrested-Shielding 27 others? https://t.co/vG7B1tyHuI
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) August 2, 2015
In response to a plea filed by BJP leader Sat Prakash Rana, the AAP government recently said that it had moved to appoint a Lokayukta, and sent the name of a candidate to the chief justice of the Delhi High Court.
While Maken has vowed to step up its agitation if a Lokpal is not constituted within the next two weeks, there is also speculation that the Congress Party has adopted the anti-corruption issue to stay relevant in Delhi politics after failing to win even a single seat in the Delhi Legislative Assembly in February.
Massive Response to 14 Demonstrations for Lokpal in Delhi by @DelhiPCC
Mr Kejriwal- Where's your Lokpal? pic.twitter.com/kubVXtSBwN
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) August 2, 2015
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