Shashi Tharoor pats BJP for help passing Lokpal Bill

New Delhi: With the Lokpal Bill securing parliamentary nod, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday appreciated the main opposition BJP for extending support to the historic legislation. "Without the cooperation of BJP, it could not have happened. We certainly have to acknowledge that this is ultimately the entire political class standing up and saying we are prepared to be accountable as the Indian public wants to", he said during an interaction with the media in New Delhi.

He maintained the proposal of Lokpal goes back to the times of Indira Gandhi but it had not made headway despite several attempts. The Anna Hazare movement crystalized the public mood and the clamour from the public naturally comes to the ears of the politicians, he said.

Stating that his party was very serious about the legislation, he said "if Anna Hazare feels that the objective of his mass movement has been accomplished in this bill, it is wrong for us to sit here and second guess that content."

He gave credit to Indian people for the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament and said the parties were responding to a genuine perception that the public of India wants it.

The Minister said there was an exchange of correspondence between Anna Hazare and Rahul Gandhi and the two of them expressed appreciation for each other role in this affair.

"Beyond that it would be wrong to imply any colusion. Anna Hazare for two years has been making a certain set of demands," he said.

"Congress in response to popular pressure and also on its own convition that we need to have a more accountable system of government has been able to do something which has satisfied Anna Hazare and the result is that the two leaders have exchanged very mutually appreciated letters. We should see that at face value and see that it is a good thing," he added.

He also did not rule out the possibility of bringing private sector under the purview of the Lokpal though not at this stage. "We would rather see that the law in both its letter and spirit is implemented effectively. At this stage, we have no such intention. But we are open to consideration".

Asked if the AICC would declare Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as its PM candidate officially in the forthcoming meeting, Tharoor said that although he did not know and it was 'way above his pay grade', he added that he would welcome if such a decision was taken.

"I would welcome it as I think the country is ready for a rejuvinated Congress Party. Not because we are in any way tired of our own but because we have been around for a while," the Union Minister said.

He added that there was perhaps a perception that his party have become too familiar. "So having relatively fresh blood coming into the leadership role will send a signal that there is a fresh mandate being sought for a fresh team. But as I said, I don't know what will happen in AICC. But if such a decision is made, it would very popular for the rank and file in the party," he said.

Blaming the media, he said it had mistaken Rahul's reticence as reluctance. "There is a big difference. Reticence does not mean he is not working. He has not been forthcoming to the media like Modi has. But he and the party has been working very hard. He has been working hard on substantive issues like his intervention in the bill on corrupt politicians and Lokpal. He has taken the lead energetically," Tharoor said.

The minister said the moment he (Rahul) starts shedding his reticence and starts speaking more, people will see that his portrayal of "some sort of reluctant prince is wrong".

"You actually have in Rahul Gandhi a person who is not only not reluctant, but very hands-on in his leadership," he said.

Asked about Supreme Court's recent verdict on homosexuality, Tharoor said that if one reads the judgement, the judge almost invites Parliament to take this off the statued books and almost pointing the way for action of Parliament.

He maintained this may need to wait a little while to get done. It is a bit unfortunate that many people feel it casts a shadow on their daily lives but "my party is in favor of removing it from the statued books", he said.

"Our Parliament has had so little effective legislative time. There have been so many pending bills in the queue. My own ministry has 11 pending bills. It's really been a constant problem," he said.

"We will try and do so. but whether we can do so in the very limited time that remains before the code of conduct comes in and the elections are declared, I do not know," he said.

Asked on Article 370 and Sunanda's reaction to it, Tharoor said it should stay as long as democratically elected Kashmiris wanted it. "The day democratically elected government says we dont need this and gets its own Assembly to recommend that, I am sure the President of India will be happy to scrap it," he said.