Govt exploring options for discussing Lok Pal versions

The government is exploring options for holding discussion on different versions of the Lok Pal Bill including Anna Hazare's Jan Lok Pal in the Lok Sabha tommorrow.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is holding hectic consultations with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also Leader of the Lok Sabha.

Bansal held the discussions soon after Hazare reacted to Parliament's appeal to end his fast and demanded that it discuss from tomorrow three key issues on Jan Lok Pal and create an agreement first.

He has warned that if the Parliament failed to do this, he will not end the fast.

Bansal later also had a meeting with Law Minister Salman Khurshid apparently to work out the format for such a discussion. East Delhi MP Sandip Dikshit, who also been involved in negotiations with Team Anna, was also present in the meeting.

The meetings took place on a day when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that Parliament will find effective ways and means to discuss the Jan Lok Pal Bill, along with the government version of the Bill, Aruna Roy's Bill and the paper presented by Jaiprakash Narayan. He also made an appeal to the Gandhian to end his fast.

The discussion could be a short duration affair under rule 193, which does not require voting.

Another option that is being considered is to bring a motion on the Lok Pal issue under rule 184 which entails voting.

The wording of a such motion could ask for a discussion on Jan Lok Pal and other bills like the one prepared by Aruna Roy so that these be sent to the Standing Committee for its consideration for making a strong Lok Pal Bill, sources said.