Sunday, August 28, 2011: After 12 long days of fasting, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare will break his fast on Sunday at 10 am. In the end it was a win-win situation for both sides. After a nine-hour long debate in Parliament on Saturday, the government stuck to its stand and did not go for a voice vote.
The resolution on Lokpal was passed by a thumping of desk unanimously, but the real test begins with the government having promised to pass the Lokpal Bill soon.
Anna announced that he will break his fast on Sunday, but the fight will continue as the battle is only half won.
A huge crowd has gathered at the Ramlila Maidan which has been the battleground for Anna’s fight for a strong Lokpal Bill. The people are in a celebratory mood.
After a week of firefighting by the government, Team Anna was finally placated and Parliament was won over, but, with the government conceding several times over.
The first major concession came while Parliament was discussing the Lokpal Bill. Even as the draft resolution was being finalised, Prashant Bhushan came out of Law Minister Salman Khurshid’s house and dropped the first bombshell saying that a resolution without vote would mean Anna’s fast would continue.
A panic stricken Prime Minister called a meeting with Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely, and the government was forced to agree to a voice vote on the resolution.
But sources say that as government got information that time was running out and Team Anna was getting impatient. Pranab got up to cut short the discussion, moved the resolution and got it passed without a voice vote.
Celebrations broke out in Ramlila Maidan, but even in what many saw as a defeat for the government, there was some relief.
The government finally got its way and could go by without a voice vote. One reason why the Congress was not too keen for a voice vote was because it would mean that some potential and present allies could be exposed. The government wanted to avoid an embarrassment for them as Lalu Prasad Yadav and the BSP have been opposing the Jan Lokpal Bill, even as the Congress itself has been divided.
Several MPs, especially the young MPs have been expressing their disapproval of the government’s handling publicly, even as Congress member Sandeep Dikshit insisted that lower bureaucracy should be kept out of the Lokpal Bill. Another young MP from Mumbai, Priya Dutt was open and she insisted that lower bureaucracy, which is the most corrupt could not be left out.
The government sources insist that they have not lost out. The carefully worded resolution maintains the supremacy of Parliamentary procedure. It also ensures that by sending the proceedings of the discussion to the Standing Committee, it may well keep a window of escape open for itself in future.
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