Rahul meets PM ahead of Cong Core Group meet

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who is keen on pushing key anti-corruption bills, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the Congress Core Group meeting.

Rahul Gandhi met the Prime Minister for about 30 minutes before the party group chaired by Congress President Sonia Gandhi with the Prime Minister by her side began deliberations at Singh's residence.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanaswamy, who are not members of the Core Group, were also called for the morning meeting.

Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and the Congress President's political secretary Ahmed Patel are members of this top decision making body, which is viewed as an interface between the party and the government.

The bills, which create the 'framework' to tackle corruption, include the Whistleblowers' Protection Bill, Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, a bill on citizens' charter, amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act and the just-passed Lokpal Bill, which has received assent of the President.

The Prime Minister had last week said that it will be the "sincere effort" of the government to pass these anti-corruption measures pending in Parliament ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections so that the fight against graft can move ahead.

The Core Group meeting comes a day after a political controversy broke out over the coal block allocation issue.