New Delhi: Questioning BJP's "silence" over Lokpal Bill, Congress on Friday accused the opposition party of "political opportunism" and dared it to spell out its stand on the demand for bringing Prime Minister and the higher judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal.
In a first categorical response of the Congress on the issue, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi also made it clear that Congress was opposed to bringing Prime Minister and the higher judiciary under Lokpal but quickly added it was not final opinion and the party will go by the "collective will" of Parliament on the issue.
"The BJP has once again proved that it puts politics above national interest, evasion over constructive support, obfuscation over concrete action. Are they perhaps not the only party without a stand on Lokpal Bill? They have no stand either on government's draft or civil society's draft on it.
"It is a reprehensible conduct by an irresponsible party, which is not interested in Lokpal but only in a desperate game to get political power through backdoor by undemocratic means after democratic rejections," Singhvi said.
The BJP has made it clear that it is in favour of a Lokpal Bill but maintains that it has not yet formulated its stand on its nuances.
After a meeting with civil society members led by Anna Hazare on Friday, the opposition party said that it will take a decision on Saturday at a meeting of its NDA allies on whether to attend the all-party meeting on July 3 or not.
Congress leaders felt that BJP could skip the meeting. Singhvi alleged that the "excuses" by BJP for not coming out with a clear stand on it are "flimsy" and "most childish" and its "silence" has other reasons.
Explaining Congress stand on the issue of bringing the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary under Lokpal's ambit, Singhvi said the party was "not per se for the exclusion" of the Prime Minister's office and it can be done after he demits the office.
"Our stand is very clear though it is not a conclusive stand and subject to the decisions taken in Cabinet and most importantly to the collective will of Parliament. We are of the view that the two institutions of Prime Minister and Judiciary should not be brought under the Lokpal's ambit," he said.
Replying to a volley of questions, the Congress spokesperson said that keeping that institution out of the purview of the body was necessary for the stability of the democratic and constitutional process.
"If the Prime Minister is brought under Lokpal, it would lead to an inherent stability in democratic and Parliamentary governance. It is not about an individual but an institution. We have to think about stability of the institution," he said.
Singhvi, at the same time, found no contradiction in Prime Minister's assertion that he has no problem in coming under Lokpal and the party's views against it.
"There is absolutely no contradiction between what the Prime Minister says or we say or what the general view of the party and the government is. The Prime Minister as an individual is entitled to say it. It is in keeping with his persona. We are not talking about him as an individual. We are talking of the PM as an institution," he said.
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