Lack of political will posed biggest hindrance to passage of Lokpal Bill: Kejriwal

New Delhi, Aug 23 (ANI): Civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the lack of political will posed the biggest hindrance to the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill.

Speaking to mediapersons at the Ramlila Ground, Kejriwal said: "To my understanding, this is a political problem and there can only be a political solution. It can be solved only through a dialogue. Putting the matters into technicalities will not solve the problem."

"In the last few months, the matter has been embroiled in technicalities, in the form of committees after committees. If the government wishes, then the problem can be solved within 24 hours," he added.

He further that there has to be only one government draft, and if the government has introduced any changes, then it should be as an amendment to the original draft.

Kejriwal also said that the government needs to go through all the nuances of the bill and decide what is acceptable to them and what is not. Following this, it was the prerogative of the ministers to ask their bureaucrats to find mechanisms to fill the lacunae between the two drafts.

"It is a sad thing that the dialogue hasn't yet begun. In the last seven days, not even one official has come, and so far whoever is coming is not an official. The government has not appointed them as the officials. Unless there is any dialogue by the government, then there cannot be any political solution to the problem and we don't see it getting solved soon," said Kejriwal.

He also discouraged the slandering of politicians during the protest outside their residences and said that targeting individual politicians was not the right way to find an amicable solution to the anti-graft problem.

"Someone met Anna ji and said that Anna ji only wants to meet Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh), but this is not true. He (Anna Hazare) had said that we want the government to send responsible people who have the authority from the government," said Kejriwal.

Asked about various proposals being talked about, Kejriwal said: "There are two options. The government can withdraw its bill and introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill or the government can bring amendments to the existing bill. The government should make a list on the points it agrees or disagrees on". (ANI)