New Delhi:
In Parliament today, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj asked the government about an alleged statement made last night by Pranab Mukherjee that Anna Hazare's fast - and how to end it - is his problem. The Finance Minister said his remarks had been totally distorted.
Anna's aides met with Mr Mukherjee and Law Minister Salman Khursheed last night for negotiations. Kiran Bedi, a member of Anna's core group, had tweeted, "As regards his breaking the fast they said its upto us how we get it done." This morning, once again on Twitter, she reiterated, "Yesterday the sense of urgency to break Anna's fast in govt talks was totally missing as compared to the one evening earlier."
Anna, who is 74, is on the tenth day of his hunger strike and sit-in protest against corruption. His associates have been meeting with Mr Mukherjee and Mr Khursheed to find a compromise that would provoke Anna to end his fast. Their stand-off is over their competing versions of the Lokpal Bill, which aims at ending corruption among public servants.
Anna believes the government's draft is toothless; his aides want their version, referred to as the Jan Lokpal Bill, to be tabled in Parliament and put to debate. The government has countered that this would violate parliamentary process. Instead, the PM has reassured Anna that the Jan Lokpal Bill and the government's bill will be seriously studied by a parliamentary standing committee. The best features of both drafts - along with suggestions from other civil rights activists like Aruna Roy - may then be compiled into a new Lokpal Bill that can be reviewed by Parliament.