Anna ready to negotiate directly with Govt

Anna Hazare is ready to negotiate directly with the Government to end the deadlock over the Lokpal issue with his old time supporters telling that Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi are proving to be main hurdles to talks. The supporters, who have worked with Hazare for many years, say that the Government has agreed to almost 80 per cent of his demands and this is the right time to talks directly with the Government.

A group of Hazare supporters have also expressed their concern over his falling health and feel that the fast and agitation cannot be continued for an indefinite period of time. Hazare's fast entered its 10th day on August 25 and he has almost 6.5 kg.

Sources say that the crisis can be resolved if any credible political leader speaks to Hazare. He is reportedly ready to talk to any leader from Maharashtra, including Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is heading the Government team negotiating with Team Anna, has reportedly called Vilasrao Deshmukh for a meeting to discuss Hazare's fast.

Talks between the Government and Hazare's associates - Kejriwal, Bedi and Prashant Bhushan - appear to have virtually broken down forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look for outside help once again

The Prime Minister has written to former Chief Justice of India JS Verma asking him to try and convince Anna to be rational while dealing with a complex problem.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal and Bedi have questioned the Government's sincerity and named Union Telecom and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Home Minister P Chidambaram as spoilers. They hinted that Pranab Mukherjee was not getting the political leeway he needed to resolve the deadlock over the Lokpal issue.

Team Anna also threatened to intensify the agitation and have not committed to the next round of talks with the Government. Kejriwal appealed to Hazare supporters to sit on dharna outside the Ministers 7 Race Course Road residence at 5 PM on Today and request him to act on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Congress core committee to meet over Lokpal issue

With Gandhian activist Anna Hazare refusing to leave the Tihar Jail, the core committee of Congress is to meettoday to finalise its strategy for dealing with the situation.

Anna Hazare was arrested Tuesday ahead of his proposed fast for a stronger anti-corruption law and taken to Tihar Jail. Authorities later declared him free but the Gandhian refused to walk out of the jail until he was allowed to hold his planned fast without any fetters.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and other senior congress leaders attended the party's core committee meeting at 7, Race Course Road, in New Delhi.

Sources say that the Core Group decided to call an all-party meeting on the Lokpal issue, especially to debate the provisions like should the Prime Minister be brought under the ambit of Lokpal or not.

The Core Committee held a meeting yesterday also on these and related issues.

In recent days, the Lokpal issue and the police crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev's camp on the intervening night of June 4-5 have been like an albatross around the government's neck. It had to face a lot of criticism at the hands of the Opposition parties, especially the BJP.

The Core Group was also supposed to discuss the Telangana issue but sources said there was no discussion on Telangana.In April, Jantar Mantar became the base camp for lakhs of Indians who supported Mr Hazare as he fasted for nearly a week.

Satellite protests in cities across India had stumped the government, which agreed to Mr Hazare's demands. He wanted a new law against corruption to be enacted, and he wanted activists who represent civil society to formally draft that law. After arguing that legislation was the prerogative of Parliament, the government gave in. Mr Hazare and four activists, including Mr Kejriwal, formed one half of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee; five senior ministers formed the other.

But of late, the movement has run into rough weather after an impasse between the two sides over drafting the bill. The activists slammed the government accusing it of turning the Lokpal Bill into a "Jokepal Bill.