The UPA Government at the Centre will hold discussions with its alliance partners on the Lokpal Bill today. An all-party meeting will be held on Wednesday to evolve consensus on the issue.

The Bill is likely to come up for approval in Parliament on the 20th of this month. This was informed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal while talking to reporters on Monday.

While the Government says it is committed to pass the Bill in the current Session to deal with corruption effectively, the Opposition is in favour of bringing the Prime Minister and lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal.

The Congress said it was unfortunate that political opportunism by the Opposition parties had overruled the values of the Parliamentary democracy. Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Friday, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh alleged that the intent of Team Anna's campaign against corruption was political.

Reacting to Team Anna's open debate on the Bill, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni charged the Opposition, saying political leaders should not have participated in the open debate. She was talking to reporters outside Parliament.

On the other hand, the BJP maintained that it had not shown any disrespect to Parliament by participating in an open debate. Talking to reporters, senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said there was nothing wrong in holding a dialogue outside Parliament.