Cabinet set to dump ordinance, Rahul Gandhi sets eyes on RTI Act

DNA: New Delhi: Tuesday, October 01, 2013.

government ordinance to shield convicted politicians as “non-sense”, the pro-active Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has now set eyes on reversing the government decision to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act aimed at keeping political parties out of its ambit.

A stunned government is now all set to dump the ordinance, as  prime minister Manmohan Singh, who is returning here on Tuesday morning, has convened the cabinet meeting on October 2. Before boarding his flight in New York, Singh had asked his cabinet colleagues, to remain in Delhi on Wednesday, even as the Congress on Monday pleaded him to take cognisance of Rahul Gandhi’s rejection of the ordinance.

Party spokesman Sandeep Dikshit told a media briefing that Rahul is a senior party leader whose views hold value and as such the party awaits the government’s response. He said Rahul has only given voice to many party members who were likewise having strong reservations against the ordinance.

Meanwhile, Congress sources disclosed that Rahul had also taken exception to the government amendments it had brought to reverse the Central Information Commission order to bring political parties within the purview of the RTI Act. “In fact, the bill designed to amend the RTI Act to exclude political parties from its purview was referred to the Parliament’s standing committee at his (Rahul’s) insistence,” said a Congress functionary.   

The Congress vice-president had even suggested that political parties may seek insulation on non-financial matters, like selection of candidates and making of the manifesto etc, there was no room to seek exemption on financial matters. “People have right to know, your functioning and your sources of funding,” the senior functionary quoted Rahul saying.

The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 13, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the RTI Act regarding public authority. The amendments state, “Authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”