With Anna Hazare continuing his fast,spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar met the top leadership of the BJP and NDA on Monday,urging them to help break the deadlock. But the Opposition was not keen to play the role of a peacemaker,opting instead to put pressure on the UPA government and let it battle its way out of the crisis. Talking to The Indian Express,senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said the government should hold direct talks with Hazare and warned that the country will not forgive the Congress if anything happens to him. Ravishankar,who drove to L K Advanis residence,was closeted with him and his colleagues Arun Jaitley,Sushma Swaraj,S S Ahluwalia and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav for over an hour,during which he reportedly briefed them on Hazares health also. Sources said Ravishankar tried to persuade the NDA leaders to take an initiative to find a solution. But the BJP top brass explained to him that the party had already offered moral support to Team Annas campaign. The RSS has also made it known that its cadres have been actively taking part in the anti-corruption protests. The government should hold direct talks with Hazare. It is for the government to take the initiative and find a solution, said Singh. Referring to the scams and scandals,he said the UPA government has lost all credibility and the moral right to continue in office. His remarks came a day after Advani sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs resignation. The stepped-up attack on the PM and the government came after a brainstorming session that the top brass of the RSS and BJP held in Ujjain last week. Sources said the RSSs message to the BJP was to be more aggressive against the UPA. Meanwhile,the Opposition leaders also discussed the strategy to be adopted in Parliament on Tuesday. Since nine non-NDA Opposition parties led by the Left have already announced they would observe a protest day on August 23,sources in the BJP camp said they expect these parties to raise the corruption issue and disrupt Parliament.
