The war between Team Anna and the government over the Jan Lokpal Bill is getting uglier by the day, so much so that the real purpose of the movement -- that of introducing an effective Lokpal Bill -- has been sidelined, reports Sahim Salim.
The proposed Lokpal will have the status of a Constitutional authority for which purpose the Constitution will be amended, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid disclosed on Tuesday night.
The government has now agreed to make public the audio recordings of proceedings of the joint drafting committee constituted to draft the Lokpal Bill.
Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the Congress's Lokpal Bill was not a stand-alone event. Her unrelenting stand on FDI and other reform measures of the government are signs of a failing relationship, says Neerja Chowdhury.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Friday appeared to raise questions over Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari's conduct during the debate on Lokpal Bill in the Upper House. "In everyone's life there come moments where one can rise above. This was one such moment last night for the chairman of Rajya Sabha to create history. Alas!" Bedi tweeted.
Neerja Chowdhury on the various theories doing the rounds on why several Congress MPs we missing during the vote on the constitutional amendment bill.
Rediff.com's Shubir Rishi visits the MMRDA ground in Mumbai - Anna Hazare's fast venue - late on Tuesday night to get a feel of the mood among the protestors. He shares his experience.
If different versions of the bill are passed and one of the Houses refuses to accept the amendment by the other, the President can summon a joint session of the two houses which is presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker. The bill can be passed by simple majority.
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said all demands of Anna Hazare on Lokpal Bill "cannot be accepted" and the activist has to decide the "limits" of his exercise.
A Team Anna member said the working group of the Team Anna met to discuss the situation against the backdrop of the moves by the government
Anticipating that the Lokpal Bill will be tabled in Parliament, Anna Hazare has cancelled his visit to Hyderabad and will return to Delhi to be in the House.
In a fresh bid to end the deadlock over Lokpal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the proposed legislation, which could not be passed on the last day of the winter session in Rajya Sabha amid pandemonium.
The government is planning a special Parliament session in mid January next year for the Lokpal Bill as the Bharatiya Janata Party has a majority in the Rajya Sabha, sources told rediff.com.
The government on Tuesday came under intense pressure from political parties to include the office of the prime minister, Group C and D employees and the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau Investigation within the purview of the Lokpal Bill.
Alleging that the Congress government at the Centre was cheating Anna Hazare on the Lokpal Bill issue, Baba Ramdev on Tuesday said that he would campaign against the parties opposing to bring back the black money stashed away in foreign banks.
Threatening to launch a "big protest" for a strong Lokpal bill, social activist Anna Hazare on Friday said that the government will have to go if it does not bring a strong anti-corruption law.
Rediff.com reporters spoke to employees of the lower bureaucracy to know what they think of all the commotion surrounding their inclusion in the Lokpal bill.
The much-awaited report of the Parliamentary panel that examined the Lokpal Bill has left the final decision -- about the inclusion of the prime minister's post under the aegis of Lokpal --- to the House. The report, along with 16 dissenting notes, was submitted and tabled in Parliament on Friday.
Within the Hazare group, serious differences have cropped up with Justice N Santosh Hegde and Swami Agnivesh wanting him to withdraw the fast, saying it was now counterproductive. But others like Bedi and Kejriwal, who are seen as hardliners with their own agenda, are said to be resisting the move and not allowing the 73-year-old social activist from Maharashtra to break the fast.
Lok Satta party president Dr Jayaprakash Narayan may have his differences with Anna Hazare over the Lokpal Bill, but he salutes the Gandhian's efforts to bring the youth and the middle class to the forefront of the anti-corruption movement. Sheela Bhatt reports
The biggest problem today is that all political parties have become united, which is disastrous to the cause, says Justice Santosh Hegde.
Demanding a strong Lokpal bill against corruption, nine non-National Democratic Alliance opposition parties including the Left, Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal on Tuesday staged a protest at the main gate of Parliament.
Arguing that Anna Hazare should not deride democratic institutions, National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy on Saturday said the Gandhian was "ill-advised" as there was still scope for the civil society group to change the government's version of Lokpal Bill.
As Anna Hazare's fast entered the fifth day, his team on Saturday demanded early introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament and said government can get it passed in days if it has the will.
Reacting to Mayawati's objection over the absence of any Dalit on the Jan Lokpal Bill draft committee, Agnivesh said, "I do welcome her objection and thank her for raising the issue. But I would also like to ask the UP chief minister to declare whether she had taken any effective steps to curb the rampant corruption in her government.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Thursday justified her objection to exclusion of prime minister from the purview of the Lokpal bill saying the government has given no reasons for his exemption and insisted that nobody was above criminal law.
A fresh controversy involving anti-corruption campaigner Shanti Bhushan broke out on Wednesday over allotment of priced farmhouse plots to him and his son Jayant in nearby Noida and demands have cropped for the lawyer's resignation from the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill.
A petition had been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to restrain activist Anna Hazare from going on a fast on the Lokpal Bill issue from August 16, saying his demands are "unconstitutional" and amount to "interference in legislative process".
Team Anna on Wednesday voiced hope that the government will deliver on Sonia Gandhi's promise of bringing a strong Lokpal bill in Winter Session of Parliament or else, the activists warned, they will hit the streets again.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Thursday charged 'political and criminal forces' of trying to dilute the nationwide movement against graft by defaming and criticising the campaign for a comprehensive Lokpal bill.
Where Laal Singh Chaddha succeeds most is heart, notes Sukanya Verma.
In the midst of continued stand-off between the government and civil society activists on the proposed Lokpal bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday met President Pratibha Patil and briefed her about the efforts being made to resolve the issue.
The government on Tuesday wondered why Team Anna keeps on issuing warnings when the Centre has repeatedly announced its commitment to bring a strong Lokpal Bill at the earliest.
Congress on Tuesday expressed hurt over Anna Hazare's statement that a "gang of four" in the government of was targeting his team, saying the party and the government had nothing to do with the allegations against Team Anna members.
Decrying the failure of Rajya Sabha to pass the Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare on Thursday made a curious suggestion to bring a law to empower gram sabhas that will be above Parliament.
'I am sick of hearing the prime minister parrot the 'compulsions of coalition government' line, says Vipin Vijayan. 'I for once hope he says, "This is what I will do. You have a problem, go hang!"'
Team Anna on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Congress ahead of the October 13 Lok Sabha by-poll in Hisar, Haryana, asking voters to inflict a "historic" defeat on the party for not getting the Jan Lokpal Bill passed.
Contrary to Anna Hazare team's description of government's Lokpal Bill draft as a "very big hoax", Swami Agnivesh, an associate of the Gandhian's anti-graft campaign, on Friday termed the latest draft as an "improvement" of its 2010 draft.
Initiating their dialogue with political parties, the Anna Hazare team on Friday met senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani to drum up support for their version of the Lokpal Bill.
In a move that is bound to add to the woes of the Congress, activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday announced his decision to begin a national tour after Dusshera.
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