Hazare, government near meeting point

The government is reported to have agreed to most of the demands made by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare even as the Congress Party today blamed the civil society activists for the continued stand-off that was hampering the process of constituting a joint committee to redraft the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Anna Hazare has, meanwhile, toned down his demand and said he was ready to accept someone of the stature of Pranab Mukherjee as head of a committee that will draft the new Jan Lokpal Bill, provided a person of the civil society's choice is made deputy head of the panel.

However, Hazare on Friday night announced that his fast has not ended and that he will take a final decision on Saturday.

A three member team comprising Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Swami Agnivesh today met government representatives and reports said the government is believed to have accepted Anna Hazare's diluted demands.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi today blamed supporters of Anna Hazare for the delay in setting up a committee to redraft the Lokpal Bill.

"The government has conceded to every substantiate demand made by the civil society members. They are unnecessarily delaying the process of constituting a joint panel for redrafting the Lokpal Bill. I want to make an appeal to them to end their agitation and join hands with the government in finding a solution to this issue," Singhvi said while addressing a press conference in New Delhi today.