The Government will hold third round of talks with representatives of Anna Hazare on proposed Lokpal Bill, a few hours from now as earlier discussions remained inconclusive. Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has appealed to Anna Hazare to end his hunger strike, which entered the fourth day, and join the informal committee to make an effective Lokpal Bill. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi, he said, talks are going on with Anna Hazare, who is sitting on a fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar to press for an effective Lokpal Bill to deal with corruption in high places. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who had yesterday appealed to Hazare to end the fast, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the issue.Senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal and Mrs Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel were also present.Mr Sibal told reporters that it is not possible for official notification on the constittion of the joint committee, but the government is willing to issue an official letter through Law Ministry and a press note. On the other hand, addressing the gathering, Hazare announced a “Fill the jail protest”, from April 13 across the country, while asking people to stick to non-violence during the agitation. Our correspondent reports supporters of Anna Hazare in Mumbai have started a mass contact programme at Azad Maidan to convince more people to join the campaign against corruption. The activists have called citizens to carry out candlelight marches outside every railway station today evening as a sign of support to Hazare’s demand. The agitation has gathered momentum with Bollywood personalities too pledging support for the cause. While actor Aamir Khan has penned a letter in favour of the bill, personalities like Shekhar Kapur, Anupam Kher, Priyanka Chopra, Neetu Chandra, Diya Mirza, Madhur Bhandarkar, Farhan Akhtar have tweeted demanding that Hazare’s demand be met at the earliest. The mood at Azad Maidan remained upbeat with scores of NGO and civic group members thronging the ground in support of Hazare. Meanwhile organisations like Bharatiya Krantikari Sanghatana (BKS), Republic Vidyarthi Sena, All India Students' Association and other groups have organised rallies, relay hunger strikes in various cities including Nagpur, Pune, Nasik around the state to express solidarity with Hazare's cause.
News On AIR | April 8, 2011 1:55 PM
Govt to hold third round of talks with representatives of Anna Hazare