New Delhi: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday refused to participate in the meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to select the anti-corruption watchdog “Lokpal” on the grounds that he had been called as a “special invitee”.

Mr Kharge objected to being called a “special invitee” rather than as the “Leader of the Oppo-sition”, as it negates the letter and spirit of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013. He also said that the government was adopting this route as a “mere paper formality” rather than seek meaningful and constructive participation.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Kharge said that he will not attend the meeting to select the Lokpal as it was a bid to exclude the Opposition from the selection process. “The special invitee invitation is a concerted effort to exclude the independent voice of the Opposition altogether from the selection process of the most important anti-corruption watchdog,” he said.

Mr Kharge also alleged the conduct of this government only seeks to “diminish” the spirit and objective of the Lokpal’s appointment and deny the participation, voice and opinion of the Opposition. Mr Kharge asked the PM to explain why the appointment has been delayed for four years.

He said the Congress-led UPA had passed Lokpal Act 2013 and brought it into force on January 16, 2014.

“Notwithstanding your repeated rhetoric to fight corruption, the BJP government has chosen to not appoint a Lokpal for nearly four years,” he wrote.

Apart from the PM, the high-powered committee on Lokpal’s appointment includes Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Mr Kharge said: “It is a matter of surprise that your government is choosing to adopt this route as a mere paper formality rather than seek any meaningful and constructive participation. The intent and objective of the act reflected that the Leader of the Opposition couldn’t be substituted as a special invitee.”

Mr Kharge also noted that the Modi government has changed various statutes like the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill 2014 to substitute the

“Leader of the Opposition" with the "leader of the single largest party” in the selection committee, but not in the Lokpal Act.

Mr Kharge accused the government of extending an invite as a mere formality as someone “without any right to participation, recording any opinion and voting ostensibly ...aimed at showcasing the participation of the Opposition in the selection process”. He that if the government was serious about the appointment of the anti-corruption watchdog, it must bring an ordinance in the shape of an amending bill, which he also sent along with his letter.

“May I say that such myopic actions belie the spirit of nation-building, more so while constituting an institution like the Lokpal? A more apt and statesmanlike conduct is expected from the Prime Minister of the country. In these circumstances, I must respectfully decline the invite as ‘special invitee’ to uphold the inviolability of the Lokpal Act 2013, as the current proceedings have reduced a sacred procedure to a political pretence,” he said in his letter to the Prime Minister.