Congress committed to pass Lokpal in Rajya Sabha: Alvi

New Delhi, Mar 14 (ANI): With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioning the UPA Government's commitment on the passing of an effective Lokpal Bill, the Congress Party on Wednesday said the Ombudsman Bill will be listed in Rajya Sabha, and added that all efforts will be made to pass it in the first part of this budget session.

"Both party and the government are committed to pass the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. We will list it in the Rajya Sabha in the first part. We do not have majority in Rajya Sabha, but we will try to ensure that it is passed in the first part of this budget session," said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley had earlier in the day demanded that the debate on the Lokpal Bill should be resumed in parliament.

"The debate must continue on the Lokpal Bill in the House according to the rules," Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha.

He further said that the government cannot postpone the debate indefinitely.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal exuded confidence about the government passing a strong and effective Lokpal Bill during the budget session of parliament.

"Lokpal bill could not be passed on the last day of the winter session because time was short and there were a lot of amendments. There is a rule that the notices of the earlier session are nullified and not carried over to the next session, so we are accepting new notices on it," Bansal told the media here.

"We have to go through them and analyse these notices. I just want to confidently declare and assure everybody that the Bill is pending. A strong and effective Lokpal will be brought into effect by the government," he added.

The Lokpal Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in the winter session in December 2011.

The Rajya Sabha broke up for recess on December 29, 2011 without voting on the bill to create a Lokpal before the deadline set by activist Anna Hazare, who led a campaign for the measure.

The opposition in the Rajya Sabha has asked the government to set a date for the discussion of the Bill and on three amendments related to the Bill. (ANI)