New Delhi, June 30: Activist Anna Hazare wanted to meet Sonia Gandhi on Thursday but he has been given an appointment for Saturday because the Congress President has prior commitments.
“No meeting is likely between Anna Hazare and Sonia Gandhi today. No appointment has been fixed for today,” sources at 10 Janpath said.
Hazare had on Wednesday said that he will try to persuade Gandhi to include the office of the Prime Minister in the Lokpal Bill.
“We will meet all parties…We will meet Sonia and tell her if the Prime Minister is saying so, then what is the problem,” he had said.
He had said the incumbent Prime Minister is an honest man. “The Union Cabinet belong to India, the people in the Cabinet are our people. Then what is the problem in taking the decision? They should be able to take it for the country.”
Hazare was responding to Singh’s remarks that he had no hesitation in bringing himself under the purview of Lokpal but many of his Cabinet colleagues feel that bringing the institution of Prime Minister under it will create instability.
The Prime Minister is also said to be keen to keep the dialogue open, a departure from Kapil Sibal’s stand last week of not holding further talks with civil society groups on the Lokpal Bill.
Before the crucial all-party meeting on the proposed Lokpal Bill, Team Anna is reaching out to political parties, to garner support – the same parties it didn’t want to share a platform with earlier.
He will be meeting JDU Leader Nitish Kumar and CPI’s AB Bardhan on Thursday. He is slotted to meet BJP’s Arun Jaitley on Friday.
Team Anna had met CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and RLD chief Ajit Singh to explain their position on the Lokpal Bill on Wednesday.
–Agencies