Govt panel, Team Anna unable to bridge differences on Lokpal after two-hour meeting
As Anna Hazare’s health showed signs of deterioration on the eighth day of his fast, the UPA government stepped up efforts to end the impasse with the Gandhian over the controversial Lokpal Bill.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was deputed to negotiate with Anna Hazare’s supporters, held a two-hour-long meeting with them this evening. After the meeting, Mukherjee drove to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence where an urgent meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs (CCPA) was convened to take a view on his discussions with Team Anna.
UPA sources said the government will place the details of these deliberations before the all-party meeting, convened by the Prime Minister tomorrow, to elicit views from other political leaders.
Today’s meeting was inconclusive as Team Anna and the government were unable to bridge differences on three key provisions: the new Bill should provide for the constitution of lokayukts in the states, MPs’ conduct in Parliament be within the Lokpal’s ambit and bringing lower-level bureaucracy under the ombudsman’s purview. According to Team Anna, the government was flexible on the inclusion of the Prime Minister and agreed to place the CBI’s anti-corruption wing at the Lokpal’s disposal. The two sides are slated to meet again tomorrow.
Describing the discussions as “fruitful and constructive”, Prashant Bhushan, a key member of Team Anna, told mediapersons later that Mukherjee and Law Minister Salman Khursheed, who was also present at the meeting, requested them to appeal to Anna Hazare to end his fast as negotiations are now under way. He said Team Anna told him they were not hopeful of a positive response unless the government has something concrete to offer.
