Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has declined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to be a “special invitee” at a meeting to select the Lokpal selection committee, to be held on March 1.
Kharge, in a letter to PM Modi, on February 28, said, “At the outset, let me state on behalf of myself, my party and the entire opposition that ‘Special Invitee Invitation” is a concerted effort to exclude the independent voice of the opposition altogether from the selection process of the most important anti-corruption watchdog …My mere presence as a special invitee without rights of participation, recording of opinion and voting would be a mere eyewash.”
Accusing the BJP of trying to diminish the spirit of Lokpal, Kharge continued in the letter “the conduct of your government only seeks to diminish the spirit and objective of appointment of Lokpal in as much as you seek to deny participation, voice and opinion of the opposition.”
The high-powered meeting will be attended by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and an eminent jurist, apart from PM Modi.
