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Lokpal Bill: House hopes to send Anna Hazare home NEW DELHI: Hopes of a solution to the 11-day standoff between government and Team Anna were delicately balanced as Parliament was finally set to discuss the setting up of a Lokpal on Saturday. Central to the discussion would be what the House decides on the three key demands of Anna Hazare. If they are accommodated, Anna is expected to give up his fast. (At the time of going to press around midnight, law minister Salman Khurshid was meeting with Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit, Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar at his residence.) While the numbers are with the parties in the UPA, Team Anna has got a big leg up by securing backing from the BJP and Left for their demand that Parliament commit itself by a resolution to accommodate their demands in the final draft of the Lokpal legislation. The Congress hasnt said it was opposed to these demands, but it hasnt endorsed them yet. The three contentious demands are including the lower bureaucracy within the Lokpals ambit, a central law to set up Lokpal-type Lokayuktas in states and a citizens charter detailing the responsibilities of government departments and the penalty for their non-fulfilment. The Hazare group maintained that the veteran campaigner, who has been on fast for more than 250 hours now, wont call off his protest unless he gets parliamentary commitment on his three demands. The Congress, as it mulls its response over the demands, was anxious about not only Annas failing health, but also the risk of appearing to be the sole hurdle in the way of the Gandhians populist anti-corruption agitation. Back |
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