There was a glimmer of hope of an early end to the crisis on the 11th day of the fast by the anti-corruption crusader, Anna Hazare, as the Congress and the BJP reached a pact. It envisages a statement at 11 a.m. on Saturday by Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on issues related to the setting up of a Lokpal and a discussion on civil society initiatives, including the Team Anna Jan Lokpal Bill.
The record of the proceedings along with documents on Team Anna and a similar exercise by civil society would be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee that is examining the government Lokpal Bill. The ruling party hopes that the rare initiative will pave the way for Mr. Hazare calling off his protest.
Conciliatory note
Mr. Hazare, on his part, struck a conciliatory note in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; he expressed the hope that Parliament would be considerate to three of his specific suggestions. These are bringing the lower bureaucracy within the ambit of the Lokpal, setting up parallel Lokayuktas at the State levels, and a citizen's charter for time-bound disposal of public grievances.
“My inner conscience tells me that if there is consensus on these proposals [three issues], then I will break my fast,” Mr. Hazare wrote, even as he expressed regrets if his or his team's words have hurt Dr. Singh or anybody else.
The first such communication to Dr. Singh by Mr. Hazare since he undertook the fast followed his direct talks with the Prime Minister's emissary and former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshkh.
Anna's assurance
While conceding that there was no written assurance from Mr. Hazare to break his fast, the interlocutors on behalf of Dr. Singh indicated that the 74-year-old social activist had conveyed informally that he would seriously consider calling off the protest once Parliament took formal cognisance of his Bill.
The tug of war between the Congress and the BJP, which led to repeated adjournment of the Lok Sabha, centred on the rule under which the debate on issues related to the Lokpal, originally suggested by the Prime Minister, should take place. The BJP wanted it under a rule which entailed voting, but the UPA constituents, joined by the non-BJP Opposition, opposed it on two grounds.
Adoption of the BJP motion, which listed the three issues raised by Team Anna with a number of caveats, would have meant committing the House without recourse to a thorough study by the Standing Committee. Besides, voting is normally taken only on a contentious issue.
Rahul questions methods
A sidelight of the day was that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi broke his silence on the Anna phenomena. During zero hour, Mr. Gandhi questioned the methods of the social activist, commenting that the democratic processes should not be weakened by “individual dictates.” Ironically, he also raised doubts on the efficacy of the Lokpal as proposed by the government and maintained that only a constitutional body, on the lines of the Election Commission, could help achieve the real objective.
Agnivesh keeps off
Meanwhile, a core member of Team Anna, Swami Agnivesh virtually dissociated himself with the movement, citing a number of reasons.
