Anna Hazare: PM apprises President

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday briefed President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on the Lokpal Bill crisis and efforts to find a solution to the impasse even as the standoff between the civil society led by the fasting Gandhian Anna Hazare and the central government over drafting an anti-corruption ombudsman bill prevailed.

Also on the fourth day of the hunger strike by Hazare, yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Bollywood actors like Anupam Kher showed up and egged on people to support the movement.

The top brass of Congress party- Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil Sibal- met during the day to find a way out, but the government has ruled out a formal notification on the bill.

“We are trying to find a solution,” said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as he urged Hazare to break the fast.

Anna Hazare, meanwhile, hardened his stance and called for a Jail Bharo (Fill up the jails) movement.

Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who spoke to Hazare, reiterated reporters on what he communicated.

He said: “Our position remains the same, it is not possible for the government of India to issue formal notification.”

He said the government can issue a letter from Law Ministry and a press note.

He said it is not also possible to accept from civil society a chairman of the committee- whether it is Hazare or his nominee- but if the activists insist on that then the committee can only have officials from the government and not ministers.

Anna Hazare, who?s fast-unto-death entered Day 4, on Friday announced plans to fill up the country?s jails from Apr 12 if his demands are not met.

With millions of supporters who are backing his hunger strike, and thousands joining him at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the threat might come as a below-the-belt blow for the government which is struggling to hold its own in front of the unprecedented protest movement.

Hazare also wrote fresh letters to the PM and Sonia Gandhi Friday and requested the PM to reconsider its decision to have Pranab Mukherjee as chairman of the proposed bill drafting committee (as media reports suggested).

He suggested the names of former Chief Justice of India (CJI) J S Verma or former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde as the chairman of the proposed committee.

A day ago the government finally agreed to form a joint committee, with equal participation of ministers and civil society to draft a fresh Jan Lokpal Bill, but not before exhausting every alternative to try and assuage Hazare?s India Against Corruption (IAC) group.
On Friday several new voices were heard in support of Hazare. Even many corporates like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon Limited spoke in favour of Hazare.
“I am happy that the people are finally shaking off their lethargy. I thank Anna Hazare for igniting them,” she said.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher urged actors like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to come out and pledge support to Hazare.

However, with no consensus on the status of the committee (formal or informal) and a dispute on who will chair the committee, the deadlock continues.

Activists say a committee without government notification is unacceptable and their protest would only intensify even as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi urged the 73-year-old Hazare to give up his hunger strike.

There were talks between the government and social activists like Arvind Kejriwal and Swami Agnivesh but the sticking point was the issue of a formal notification and on who would be the head of the proposed committee.

“We are not fools. There should be formal notification to form a committee,” said activist Arvind Kejriwal.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Anna’s views will receive ‘full attention’ of the UPA government.

“There can be no two views on the urgent necessity of combating graft and corruption in public life,? Gandhi said in a statement.

Hazare welcomed Sonia’s remark but asked her to walk the talk by ensuring that the law is quickly drafted and implemented.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, slammed the Congress and lent full support to the movement launched by Hazare.

During an election campaign in Assam, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, of the BJP, criticized Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for ?doubting? Anna Hazare’s mission.

The Left parties also supported Hazare and demanded an all party meeting.

The movement spread all across India with people pouring in at Hazare’s agitation venue from different cities.

People in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad among many other cities also joined the movement and expressed solidarity with street meetings.

People sporting “I am Anna Hazare” placards marched in processions and shouted slogans.

“I had to pay a bribe to get a passport clearance by police. I made a mistake and now I vow not to pay again ever,” said a youth in Kolkata.

Online forums and social networking sites buzzed with pledges for the movement. The IAC said that it had also garnered support of international volunteer organisations.

Danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai who is also fasting to express solidarity in Ahmedabad said Anna Hazare has taken a Gandhian stance to protest corruption.

“The tribal people became Naxalites after they were deprived for years and years. Here is a person who has taken just the opposite stance [with his peaceful agitation],” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar stepped down from the government?s anti-graft ministerial panel on a corruption control law after Hazare took potshots at the committee for being constituted of people who themselves have corruption cases piled up against them.

Forty-two years in waiting, the Jan Lokpal Bill is touted to be India?s de facto weapon against graft. With the recent onslaught of several corruption scandals and little headway in drafting the bill the IAC had started its campaign to ensure the bill was realised.

A Lokpal means an ombudsman to root out corruption at high places in the Indian polity. The Lokpal Bill (Ombudsman Bill), 2010 is now awaiting a select parliamentary committee’s ascent.

If implemented, the Bill can allow filing complaints of corruption against the Prime Minister, ministers and all lawmakers, however, the it has been widely criticised for not being definitive enough and being poorly drafted.

The IAC, featuring prominent names like former cop Kiran Bedi and Swami Agnivesh, demand the bill be drafted with equal participation of the both the government and civil society and see a speedy implementation.