Team Anna meets parties to garner political support, Cong defiant

With barely 48 hours to go for the all-party meet on the Lok Pal Bill, members of the Anna Hazare team are reaching out to political parties to build a consensus on the draft compiled by the civil society.

However, the Congress-led coalition at the Centre is ready with a battle plan following Congress Working Committee meet to ward off any opposition to the government’s version of the draft bill. The party has set the tone with a strongly-worded resolution: The Prime Minister, judiciary and bureaucrats appointed by the President of India will not be included in the proposed ombudsman’s ambit.

The government feels that the bureaucrats are covered by other anti-corruption laws and need not be included under the Lok Pal.

Although Hazare and his team members are scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi tomorrow, the civil society should not expect her to go against the party decision. As of now, the government draft leaves the judiciary and the PM out of the Lok Pal bill. The civil society draft, however, wants both within the ambit, as well as the actions of MPs in Parliament.