All party meeting on the Lokpal Bill which met at prime minister residence here passed a resolution asking Anna to end his fast and said that due consideration would be given to the Jan Lokpal Bill so that the final draft of the Bill provides for a strong and effective Lokpal, supported by broad national consensus.
Several opposition parties urged the Government to withdraw the present Bill and bring an effective one. These include the main opposition BJP, Left Front and JD(U). The move is believed to have been opposed by National Conference and Lok Jana Shakti Party.
Talking to media after the meeting, the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj said that her party is in favour of strong Lokpal Bill after taking into consideration Jan Lokpal.
CPI(M) leader Sita Ram Yechuri said that the Government Bill should be withdrawn and a new draft should be made after giving due consideration to various suggestions on the issue. Mr. Yechuri also stated that the due Parliamentary procedures must be adhered to.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Dr. Manmohan Singh called upon all stakeholders to work together for a strong Lokpal.
In his opening remark Prime Minister said that he would also like the Standing Committee to consider all points of view to evolve a broad based national consensus to create a strong institution of the Lokpal. Referring to his letter to Anna Hazare, Dr. Singh said, he requested him to end his fast and reiterated Government’s intention to pass the best possible Lokpal legislation with inputs from civil society and on the basis of the broadest possible consensus.
“Our common objective is to build a strong and independent institution that will deal effectively with corruption, which is a major challenge that confronts our democracy and our nation. Recent developments have raised issues, related to the functioning of our Parliamentary democracy, that concern all of us,” PM said.
Meanwhile, Anna Hazare’s fast has entered the 9th day at Ramlila Maidan. Meanwhile, the third round of talks between Team Anna and the government has begun a short while ago at the Finance Minister’s office in North Block to break the impasse over the issue.
