Anna to meet panel today,may end maun vrat

Anna Hazare was accompanied by his personal secretary Suresh Pathare.

Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday left Ralegan Siddhi for New Delhi,where he is expected to end his vow of silence and attend the meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the Lokpal Bill on Friday.

Hazare,who has been on a maun vrat since October 16,left for the Capital on Thursday afternoon,after a closed door meeting with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar earlier in the day. Hazare was accompanied by his personal secretary Suresh Pathare.

Pawar was in the area to attend a function in a neighboring village so he dropped by to meet Anna, said Dada Pathare,a close aide of Hazare. Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athvale visited Ralegan Siddhi and met Hazare on Thursday.

Meanwhile,appearing before the parliamentary panel on Thursday,Team Anna members suggested amendments to the Lokpal Bill to bring it in line with their Jan Lokpal Bill and the Lokayukta Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Speaking to mediapersons,lawyer Prashant Bhushan said,We had positive discussions with the committee and we explained the needed amendments.

Arvind Kejriwal said Hazare would lead the delegation in the next round of discussions with the committee on Friday. This will be a question-answer session, he said.

The committee chairman,Abhishek Manu Singhvi,said the panel would conclude discussions with witnesses after Fridays session. Thereafter,we will begin deliberations and mutual consultations (among members of the committee) and start finalising our report, he said.

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On talk of a constitutional amendment,Kejriwal said,we will welcome this… our only suggestion is that it should not be done in a manner which would require ratification by states, adding that this would delay the entire process. Hailing the Uttarakhand Bill,Kejriwal said it should be made the model and enacted at the Centre as well as in all the states.

Asked if they were sticking to their demand that the proposed Lokpal should cover the conduct of MPs inside the House also,Kejriwal said they wanted an amendment to Section 105 of the Constitution to bring MPs under the purview of the legislation. He said the 179th Law Commission of India,headed by former Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachaliah had recommended that if an MP indulged in corruption for voting or speaking,criminal proceedings should be initiated against him.

He said as far as government employees were concerned,they advocated an amendment in Section 311 of the Constitution to allow the Lokpal to be empowered to take action against a bureaucrat charged with corruption.

Kiran Bedi said: We found that they (committee members) had a greater grasp and understanding (than before)… They were much more engaging than last time.

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Regarding the Citizens Charter,Bhushan said we are analysing it… we would comment on it separately.