GUNA/NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday created a flutter by endorsing civil society's demand to bring the prime minister and the higher judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal, taking the government and his party colleagues by surprise. <br /> <br />"My view is that the prime minister, judiciary, NGOs and industrial houses should also be brought under the ambit of Lokpal. But there should be a system to ensure that the Lokpal does not misuse its power," Singh said at his hometown Raghogarh on Sunday evening, according to agency reports. <br /> <br />"When I was the Madhya Pradesh chief minister, I had brought the CM's post under the purview of Lokayukta (ombudsman)," he said. <br /> <br />Although Singh appeared to be critical of the efforts of a few people to "exert pressure on the government" — seen by many as a reference to the campaign by Anna Hazare -- his statement that PM and higher judiciary should be within Lokpal's jurisdiction may embarrass the government. <br /> <br />The government has ruled out including PM and higher judiciary within the ambit of the anti-graft ombudsman and appears to be headed for a confrontation with civil society on the issue. According to agency reports, the Congress general secretary was harsh on Baba Ramdev, terming the yoga guru's nine-day fast a "nautanki" (drama). "If he had to continue his agitation then he should not have broken his fast. And if he had kept a fast for some demands then he should not have broken it without its fulfillment. It was all a nautanki," Singh said. <br /> <br />"Ramdev had done his work, now government agencies will do their work," he added. The former chief minister did not forget to <br />target the BJP for supporting the yoga guru. "The BJP which had supported Ramdev also did not get anything from it." <br /> <br />Singh also commented on social activist Anna Hazare on the occasion. "Anna Hazare should also not go on fast and participate constructively in the drafting committee of the Lokpal bill."
