Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: Demanding a strong Lokpal bill against corruption, nine `non-NDA` opposition parties including the Left, TDP and Rashtriya Lok Dal today staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament.

Nine parties have launched a country-wide agitation.

We want the government to come forward with a strong Lokpal bill," CPI leader D Raja told reporters here.

Holding placards, leaders of the four Left parties along with leaders of RLD, TDP, JD (Secular), AIADMK and BJD including former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Ajit Singh (RLD) and Nama Nageshwar Rao (TDP) raised slogans in support of their demand here.

"Government Lokpal Bill is not effective and we need an effective Lokpal. The Parliamentary process is on and it has been referred to the Standing Committee. All the nine parties will take up this issue through Parliamentary procedures as well as popular protest outside for an effective Lokpal," Yechury said.

On the statements made by the Prime Minister on the Lokpal issue, he said, "The Prime Minister is making all sorts of statements outside. The session is on and things should not be said outside. I think this is undermining the supremacy of Parliament and that can`t be allowed."

"It is for the Prime Minister to come out and say what he thinks here. Whatever the Prime Minister and other Ministers are saying should be said officially in Parliament so that we can have a debate here," he said.

Meanwhile, Om Prakash Yadav, an independent MP from Siwan, sat on a dharna near Mahatma Gandhi`s statue inside Parliament House complex in support of Hazare`s Jan Lokpal bill.

The MP, who is supporting the Government, said he will discuss the issue with the people in his constituency and he may also consider withdrawing his support.
The motion requested Justice Michael Obus to dismiss the seven-count indictment against Strauss-Kahn.

Justice Obus will hear the case tomorrow.

Prosecutors said at the time of the indictment, the available evidence "satisfied" them that she was "reliable."

"But evidence gathered in our post indictment investigation severely undermined her reliability as a witness in the case. After an extensive investigation, it is clear that proof of two critical elements - force and lack of consent - would rest solely" on Diallo`s testimony.

While the "physical, scientific and other evidence" establishes that Strauss-Kahn engaged in a "hurried sexual encounter" with Diallo, it does not "independently establish her claim of a forcible, nonconsensual encounter."

Prosecutors said apart from Strauss-Kahn and Diallo, there are no other eyewitnesses to the May 14 incident.

"Undeniably then for a trial jury to find the defendant guilty, it must be persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant is credible," they said.

Enumerating the reasons for their decision, the prosecutors said Diallo provided "shifting and inconsistent versions" of the events surrounding the alleged assault.

"As a result we cannot be sufficiently certain of what actually happened on May 14 or what account of these event the complainant would give at trial."

The prosecutors said Diallo has not been "truthful" in her interviews with them, and instead has admitted that the accounts she gave to prosecutors and the grand jury of her actions immediately after the sexual assault are "false."

In two interviews, Diallo gave a "vivid and highly detailed, convincing" account of having been raped in her native country, which she now admits is entirely false.

Diallo`s lawyer Kenneth Thompson voiced his anger at the district attorney`s decision to drop the charges.

"The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. He has not only turned his back on this victim but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case. If the Manhattan district attorney, who is elected to protect our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our wives and our loved ones, is not going to stand up for them when they are raped or sexually assaulted, who will."

Diallo was with Thompson but remained silent.

Hardly had Chairman Hamid Ansari taken his seat, BJP Deputy Leader S S Ahluwalia demanded the discussion.

He was joined by his party colleagues and members from other opposition parties including Left, AIADMK, JD-U and BSP.

The pleas of Ansari in the Rajya Sabha and Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha cut no ice and both the Houses were adjourned till noon.

scrollToTop