Even as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured the nation that his government was committed in passing the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare continued to accuse the government of deceit.
Hailing the Lokpal bill as the single most powerful anti-corruption law in independnent India, Congress on Thursday cautioned parties obstructing the legislation that they will face the anger of the people.
Dubbing the Lokpal Bill introduced by the government in Lok Sabha as "weak", The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said it will move amendments against provisions like reservation for minorities, which it maintained is unconstitutional, and bringing the Central Bureau of Investigation under the ombudsman.
Team Anna on Thursday rejected the Lokpal bill describing it as "anti-people and dangerous" and demanded that a new bill be brought in Parliament that will make the Central Bureau of Investigation independent and decentralise the proposed anti-corruption body.
On the eve of the all-party meeting on Lokpal issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday night held consultations with United Progressive Alliance constituents after which a "broad consensus" was reported on the approach to the matter.
A poor crowd on a weekend at Team Anna's indefinite fast on Saturday did not deter Anna Hazare to threaten a fast-unto-death from Sunday on the Lokpal issue and talk about a political alternative in the 2014 elections.
A former Delhi chief secretary and currently Delhi's public grievance commission chairman has warned the prime minister not to strangle the 'doers' in the bureaucracy and paralyse the government while the 'non-doers' go scot free in the euphoria over ushering in a strong anti-corruption ombudsman.
Government and Team Anna on Tuesday night began discussions on the Lokpal issue amidst clear indications that government might consider bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the anti-corruption ombudsman while differences persisted on other key issues during the inconclusive talks.
Central Bureau of Investigation has written to the law minister expressing reservations over the new provisions introduced through Lokpal where the agency will have to take the nod of Central Vigilance Commission before filing charge sheets in cases referred by the anti-corruption watchdog.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders met President Pratibha Patil on Thursday to complain about "subversion" of Parliament over Lokpal issue and sought her intervention to re-convene the House to enable voting in Rajya Sabha on the crucial bill.
With the government making a fresh bid to end the stalemate over Lokpal Bill, Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi held deliberations ahead of the all-party meeting on Friday.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko today criticised the United Progressive Alliance government for failure to pass Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha and opposed inclusion of Lokayukta in the legislation, saying it was an encroachment on the state's rights.
With uncertainty looming over the fate of the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, the United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday hoped that all allies will come around and help in its passage so that possibility of convening a Joint Session of Parliament does not arise.
The much-awaited Lokpal Bill was on Tuesday taken up for consideration by the Lok Sabha on a stormy note with the Opposition demanding its withdrawal contending it was full of deficiencies, even as the government asserted that it had sought to strike a fine balance.
Acknowledging that consensus eluded the all-party meeting on Lokpal issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday said the government was confident that it would be able to table the proposed bill in the winter session itself.
With the Budget session set to conclude on Tuesday, the much debated Lokpal Bill, instead of being brought in the Rajya Sabha, could be referred to a Joint Select Committee amid lack of consensus on its key provisions.
With the threat of Anna Hazare's agitation looming large, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting next week to evolve a broad consensus on the Lokpal Bill and ensure its passage during the current session of Parliament that ends on December 22. Before the all-party meeting, the United Progressive Alliance allies will hold confabulations among themselves on December 13 to devise a common strategy and speak in one voice in Parliament.
Two days ahead of Anna Hazare's fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, his team today stepped up attack on government questioning the "credibility" of the Standing Committee report on the issue saying it has only the support of 12 members.
In a series of opinion polls, we ask you the same questions on the Lokpal that the Centre put before CMs and party leaders.
Aruna Roy, prominent member of civil society, chairman of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, and an alternative voice in the ongoing debate on the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Rediff.com
Accusing the party of not taking up seriously enough the issue of corruption, three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday offered to quit as Members of Parliament.
Questioning the impartiality of the parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal Bill, a leading citizens' forum has sought the reconstitution of the panel as a befitting response to unprecedented anti-corruption movement in our country.
Government on Monday released audio tapes of proceedings of the joint drafting committee meetings on Lokpal Bill that brings out sharp differences that had always marked the relationship between Team Anna and Union ministers on issues like inclusion of prime minister and the judiciary under its ambit.
Seeking Opposition support for the Lokpal Bill, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla on Friday said in the Rajya Sabha that the intention of the government should not be questioned as it has brought a strong law.
As Anna Hazare threatened to campaign against Congress on the Lokpal issue, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said the government will bring the anti-corruption bill in Parliament's winter session.
A significant number of participants in the referendum were the youth, who did not mince words while expressing their disgust with corruption and the blatant reluctance of the entire political class in taking it head-on.
Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal has been in the forefront of the massively publicised movement to demand a Lokpal Bill. A close associate of Gandhian Anna Hazare, Kejriwal has staunchly defended the movement and rebuffed many allegations made against civil society activists by the ruling Congress party. He has also taken on senior Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Pranab Mukherjee who had taken pot shots at Hazare's movement.
Sharing Anna Hazare's platform, Opposition parties on Sunday backed his demands for inclusion of prime minister and lower bureaucracy under the ambit of Lokpal but some counselled Team Anna to be flexible and not expect every point raised by it to be accepted.
The joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill met in New Delhi on Tuesday for the last time amid "fresh and serious" differences between the government and Anna Hazare team.
Ahead of Anna Hazare's dharna in New Delhi on Sunday, government on Friday said Team Anna should await the passage of the Lokpal Bill before going ahead with any agitation on the issue.
Aiming at devising a strategy for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament, the two-day meeting of the core committee of Team Anna began in Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday.
The Parliamentary Panel going into the Lokpal Bill will take a call on the issue of inclusion of Prime Minister in the anti-corruption watchdog at its meeting this week, its chairman Abhishek Sighvi said on Sunday.
We had asked our readers to suggest ways to resolve the stand-off between the United Progressive Alliance government and Team Anna Hazare on the proposed Lokpal Bill draft. The responses.
Activists of India Against Corruption led by Anna Hazare, got a shot in the arm with a referendum receiving overwhelming support in Congress President Sonia Gandhi's constituency Rae Bareli on Saturday.
Civil society led by Anna Hazare on Monday hit back at the government over the charge that it was undermining Parliament and Constitution and asked why an "honest" man like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is "scared" of being investigated by the Lokpal.
The ruling dispensation seems to have plumbed the depths of depravity following the constitution of the Lokpal panel. Whatever residual respect that one might have for a 'clean' prime minister was lost once a carefully orchestrated campaign of calumny was unleashed against civil society nominees on the Lokpal panel, says Virendra Kapoor.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of not speaking about its problems with Lokpal Bill before the debate on it in Rajya Sabha and sought to know from the party why it did not ask for the legislation to be put to vote with limited discussion.
It will be a touch-and-go affair in the Upper House, remarked a senior Congress leader underlining that there were many ifs and buts for the bill to be passed
Voicing disappointment over passage of a "useless" Lokpal Bill in Lok Sabha, Team Anna on Wednesday said it appeared the legislation is headed for a joint session of Parliament as the Rajya Sabha may pass a version different from the one already passed.
After having shaken up the United Progressive Alliance government through his fast at the Ramlila Grounds, Anna Hazare has now decided to focus on the Congress party as his enemy number 1.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances