As day 8 of Anna Hazares fast wound to a close tonight,the government and his team of representatives began talking amid indications that some kind of give and take was being worked out on provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill. But an end to the impasse still seemed elusive even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to reach out to Anna Hazare,issuing a personal appeal to call off his fast and providing the first of concessions by appointing senior leader Pranab Mukherjee as negotiator for discussions with Team Anna. After the 90-minute first round of talks that Mukherjee held in his North Block office,Team Anna played tough,insisting on the introduction of a single Bill and its passage in the present session of Parliament itself. The implication,in other words,was that the government should withdraw the present Bill its Bill and introduce another one that could be adequately amended to address the grievances of Team Anna,but call it the Jan Lokpal Bill. Sources said the two sides agreed on including the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal and discussed putting the CBI under its charge as well. They also agreed to deal with the judiciary through a separate Judicial Accountability Bill. Addressing supporters at Ramlila Maidan shortly thereafter,Arvind Kejriwal,Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi the trio which made up Team Anna claimed that the government had agreed to incorporate significant features of the Jan Lokpal Bill but that was not enough,following which it was decided to have more meetings tomorrow. In a late-night tweet,Kiran Bedi wrote: Barring a few points,all other key points are agreeable by and large to government. They are holding a Cabinet meeting to resolve. We told them clearly,introduce our bill and let the government Lokpal lapse. Extend the session if you have to,but give us an assurance in writing, Kejriwal told the crowd of cheering supporters. He said that the Law Ministry had pointed to flaws in the Jan Lokpal Bill to which they had responded that the Ministry could work on corrections and the amended copy could be mutually approved. The three activists maintained they had insisted that junior-level officials be included in the Lokpal to which the government had said that it would respond tomorrow. The government also refrained from giving any commitment,they said,to the demand of having Lokayuktas in the states and having a citizens charter for all government departments and ministries to improve services. Kejriwal,however,asserted that the talks were fruitful and held in a good atmosphere. The government late tonight also convened a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) to take stock of the situation and put the issue of withdrawal of the government Bill before the alliance partners. The Prime Minister,in a letter to Anna earlier in the day which was was clearly meant to be the facesaver for Anna to end his hunger strike had said that the Jan Lokpal Bill would be taken up in its entirety by the standing committee of Parliament dealing with the issue. He promised that the government would write to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar for the Jan Lokpal Bill to be sent to the standing committee and would also write to its chairperson to fast-track it. I would like to say that this letter and each suggestion herein is actuated solely by the twin considerations of deep and genuine concern about your health and the emergence of a strong and effective Lokpal Act in accordance with established constitutional precept and practice. I do hope that you will consider my suggestions and end your fast to regain full health and vitality, he said in his letter. Singhs letter emphasized that the objectives of both Hazare as well as the government on reducing corruption significantly was the same,though,he did underline that all this would have to be done without diluting Parliaments supremacy. I have maintained that your and our object is identical viz. to reduce significantly,if not eliminate,the scourge of corruption from this country. At worst,our paths and methodologies may differ,though I do believe that even those differences have been exaggerated, he said. The script to try and end the eight-day-long drama,according to sources,was written at the Congress core group meeting that Prime Minister called yesterday at his residence. Besides the decision to call an all-party meeting tomorrow,the core group was also understood to have agreed that Singh should appeal to Hazare and Mukherjee be designated negotiator. The leadership began giving shape to its approach this morning with the Prime Minister holding a series of meetings with Abhishek Singhvi,who chairs the standing committee; Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit,Science and Technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,HRD Minister Kapil Sibal besides a second round of confabulations with core group members AK Antony,Pranab Mukherjee,P Chidambaram and Ahmed Patel. Law Minister Salman Khurshid,who was part of the talks by the senior leadership,was sent in the afternoon to convey the message of reconciliation to Kejriwal. This was done after Kejriwal was first contacted by Sheila Dikshits media advisor Pawan Khera and a meeting fixed later with Khurshid at the Pandara Park house of a retired official known to the law minister.
