Curbing corruption: TDP to push Centre to pass Lokpal Bill

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday revealed that his party would push for the passing of the Lokpal Bill in the Budget Session of Parliament.

Speaking to media persons at his residence at Jubilee Hills, the former chief minister said that the TDP was keen to see that the Lokpal Bill being passed so that the citizens of the country can act against even against the high and mighty.

The Lokpal Bill, if passed and made into Law, would enable citizens to file cases against the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and MPs, not to mention the state governments for corruption.

Mr Naidu reminded that the Bill was being blocked repeatedly by ‘vested interests’, despite many attempts to get it passed since it was introduced in 1968.

He pointed out that the need for the Bill being passed has become even more acute after allegations of massive corruption have been made against Union Ministers in various scams like the 2G spectrum scam, the Commonwealth Games scam and Adarsh Housing Society scam.

The TDP chief said that the Bill will also help in getting back the black money stashed in foreign banks. This amount is estimated to be over Rs 73 lakh crores, Mr Naidu said.

The TDP chief said that his party would attempt to create awareness among the people of the state over the rampant corruption prevailing in the country and the state.

Mr Naidu further said that he would lead a padayatra from the Golconda Military Hospital to the Bapu Ghat on January 30, the death anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

The former chief minister also repeated his demand that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy resign from his post after admitting that he had helped save former Kadapa leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy from being implicated in the murder case of TDP MLA Paritala Ravindra.

Mr Naidu demanded that the government order investigations in the to be restarted so that the truth behind the killing of the former MLA be revealed.