Digvijay retracts from 'PM under Lokpal' remark

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday retracted from his statement that the prime minister should come within the ambit of Lokpal, as the party distanced itself from his remarks.

A day after telling reporters in Guna that the prime minister, the judiciary, non governmental organisations and industrial houses should also come under the scrutiny of Lokpal, Singh today he will go with the view of the party and the joint drafting committee on it.

"My stand is the same as that of the party. Let the Lokpal drafting committee decide. I will go with that decision and the decision of the party," he told reporters. While civil society members of the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal bill have demanded inclusion of the prime minister under the scrutiny of the proposed anti-corruption ombudsman, the ministerial members of the committee have expressed their reservations over such a proposal.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, articulating the party's stand, said, "Who should be in and who should be out, we should wait for the joint drafting process to play itself out. We respect the process. When it is in place, when experienced people are involved and engaged in a process, it is not necessary for everyone to keep commenting".

At the same time the All India Congress Committee general secretary said that he remembered "having read a statement of the prime minister in which he had said that he had no objection to it" when asked whether his stand contradicts that of the government that voiced its opposition to the demand for bringing the prime minister under the ambit of Lokpal.

"We will articulate our views once the bill is before the House," the Tewari said. On various demands of Hazare including the inclusion of the prime minister and the Supreme Court in the purview of the proposed Lokpal bill, Tewari suggested the idea that the Lokpal would be a panacea for all problems was wrong.