New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it will accept the Lokpal bill only if the dissent note submitted by its members in the parliamentary committee is accommodated in the revised version of the bill.

‘We will judge the government draft (of Lokpal bill) very closely and harshly on the yardstick of what we have said in our dissent note,’ party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

‘We are not going to accept it if the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) appointment mechanism and other suggestions as mentioned in our dissent note are not incorporated,’ he said.

While several other party leaders expressed similar views, another party leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha S.S. Ahluwalia told reporters that the party will not comment on its stand unless they see the new version.

‘Even a full stop or a comma changes the meaning of a sentence… we will see the bill and only then give any comment,’ Ahluwalia told reporters after a party briefing Wednesday.

‘Why should we take up the gun, without even knowing what is there in the bill,’ he said.

A new version of Lokpal bill is to be tabled in parliament Thursday.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday morning also met opposition leaders Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and L.K. Advani, in which both ruling and main opposition parties agreed upon extending the winter session of parliament to pass the Lokpal bill.

The session which was supposed to end Thursday, will now be extended Dec 27-29 to debate and pass Lokpal bill.

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it will accept the Lokpal bill only if the dissent note submitted by its members in the parliamentary committee is accommodated in the revised version of the bill.

‘We will judge the government draft (of Lokpal bill) very closely and harshly on the yardstick of what we have said in our dissent note,’ party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

‘We are not going to accept it if the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) appointment mechanism and other suggestions as mentioned in our dissent note are not incorporated,’ he said.

While several other party leaders expressed similar views, another party leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha S.S. Ahluwalia told reporters that the party will not comment on its stand unless they see the new version.

‘Even a full stop or a comma changes the meaning of a sentence… we will see the bill and only then give any comment,’ Ahluwalia told reporters after a party briefing Wednesday.

‘Why should we take up the gun, without even knowing what is there in the bill,’ he said.

A new version of Lokpal bill is to be tabled in parliament Thursday.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday morning also met opposition leaders Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and L.K. Advani, in which both ruling and main opposition parties agreed upon extending the winter session of parliament to pass the Lokpal bill.

The session which was supposed to end Thursday, will now be extended Dec 27-29 to debate and pass Lokpal bill.