anti-corruption campaigners led by Gandhian Anna Hazare Day 3

The government on Thursday began talks with anti-corruption campaigners led by Gandhian Anna Hazare and agreed to form a joint committee to draft an effective Lokpal Bill but there was no consensus on who will head it and whether it should be notified.

As his hunger strike entered the third day, the 71-year-old social activist rejected the government’s offer of an informal committee and vowed not to end his protest till the demands are met.

“I will fight till death,” he said addressing hundreds of supporters gathered near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi after word spread that talks between government and anti-corruption activists were deadlocked.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the government’s reluctance to come out with a notification to constitute the committee, he said his fast will continue.

Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who is in the Group of Ministers on corruption and deputed by the Prime Minister, held two rounds of talks on Thursday with activists Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal on their demand for a joint committee with members of civil society and government representatives in equal measure for drafting an effective Lokpal Bill.

Another round of talks will be held on Friday morning.

“We had two rounds of discussions. We have agreed on almost all issues but there is no agreement on two issues, that is issuing an official notification to form the committee and making Hazare the chairman of the committee,” Mr. Sibal told reporters after the second round of talks at his residence.

“So we need more time and we will meet again tomorrow and see we can evolve a procedure with which we can move ahead,” Mr. Sibal said.

He said the government has agreed to form the committee now and not after May 13 as it had suggested in the first round of talks and will definitely be introducing the Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

The proposed panel will have five members each from government and civil society. “The government has agreed to our demands. But our two demands are yet to be met. We will convey this to Hazare,” Swami Agnivesh said.

Mr. Hazare, who his admirers and followers have been demanding should head the committee, said he would not like to chair it. “If you want I can be a member or adviser, but not the chairperson,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Kejriwal said Mr. Hazare was of the view that a retired judge should be the chairman of the committee as the government suggested that Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee head the panel.

However, he said, when this proposal was put forward to his supporters they unanimously demanded that Mr. Hazare be the chairperson of the joint committee.

In his address to the supporters in the evening, Mr. Hazare said politicians do not want a Lokpal Bill because that will stop the ‘loot’.

“Scams like 2G, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Housing have come to the light but scamsters are not going to jail. We want a Lokpal Bill so that we can send the corrupt to jail and get them hanged,” Mr. Hazare said to a thunderous applause from the gathering.

“People ask me you are a Gandhian and talking about hanging. But I tell them that the situation is such that we should not only follow Gandhi but Chhtarapati Shivaji Maharaj. This is the demand of the society and the country.”

He said people will make the government behave. “If they do not listen to people, people will send them out of power,” the veteran Gandhian said.

Dismissing reservations from the government about involving civil society activists in the drafting committee, he said, “They don’t know the meaning of democracy. People are sovereign and the ministers are servants. People have every right to question when their treasury is being looted.”

To a question, he said, “All the corrupt Ministers should quit the Cabinet.”

“We will not allow corrupt people to come into the committee,” Mr. Hazare said in response to another query.

He rejected allegations that he was aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and said he has nothing to do with them.

“I have been working for the society for long time. For the past 35 years, I have not gone home. I have three brothers and I don’t know the names of their children. I don’t have any bank balance. I ask people to put Rs. 5 or Rs. 10 in our carry bag.

“Through this, I have kept myself fighting for the public. What have I to do with the Congress or the BJP? The country which is a gold chest has drowned in dismay because of those who ran the country,” Mr. Hazare said, adding some people are still criticising him.

“If they had done so much, why is it that the country is still in a mess?” he asked.

Mr. Kejriwal said the activists had suggested to the Minister to officially notify the formation of the committee which the Minister rejected.

“What is the guarantee when the Minister only announces the formation of the committee and there is no formal notification. They are trying to make a fool of us,” he said.

In the first round of talks, Mr. Kejriwal claimed, the government expressed its inability to give a timeline for bringing the Lokpal Bill. He said Mr. Sibal also expressed their inability in forming the committee before May 13 as Union Ministers were busy due to campaigning for State elections.

“In the second round, we suggested that those who are not busy should be brought in the committee. This was accepted by the government,” he said.

The decision to open a negotiation channel with activists came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s discussions with some Cabinet colleagues on Wednesday night. It was immediately followed by Mr. Sibal’s meeting with the activists.

Asked whether he has discussed with Dr. Singh the developments, Mr. Sibal said, “When I am standing here, then it is with authority.”

Earlier in the day, Mr. Hazare, who has lost 1.5 kg in the past three days, said there was no need for anyone to worry about his health as he can go with the fast for another seven days.

He is in good shape though there has been a rise in his blood pressure and he is feeling weak. In the evening, his blood pressure was under control.

Mr. Hazare said he was not averse to dialogue but such discussions should take place with those who have power to take decisions.

“When did we say no to dialogue. Dialogue should take place with those who have power to take decisions, whether (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh),” he said.

More people, including school children, have joined the protest in New Delhi even as support for the Gandhian swelled across the country with people staging demonstrations in various State capitals.