Agencies/New Delhi


Supporters of Anna Hazare gather at the Ramlila grounds where the activist is on his hunger strike for a stronger Lokpal bill yesterday
A hunger strike by Anna Hazare entered its seventh day yesterday amid signs of a thaw in the stand-off over a strong Lokpal bill with the anti-graft activist indicating his willingness to talk to the government, but with riders.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the government was open for debate on the Lokpal bill to set up an independent and powerful anti-graft watchdog, the fasting Hazare said he would negotiate only with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) or Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Hazare, looking weak and pale, told IBN Lokmat Marathi news channel he would not negotiate with any other mediator, including Home Minister P Chidambaram or Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal.
According to the channel, the 74-year-old anti-corruption campaigner added in an interview to IBN Lokmat editor Nikhil Wagle that negotiations could not take place with non-government mediators.
“Hazare said that the Lokpal bill negotiations cannot happen with non-government mediators and added that he can talk with the Prime Minister’s Office or Rahul. He also said that he was ready to talk with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan,” according to the CNN-IBN channel.
In a related development, Hazare’s close aide and police officer Kiran Bedi said the activist wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send his representative to hold talks on the Jan Lokpal bill, the civil society’s version of the anti-graft bill.
“Anna is saying let the government come forward to discuss the Jan Lokpal bill. Let the PM send his representatives. Any negotiations are rumours,” Bedi tweeted on the microblogging site Twitter.
The prime minister appealed for a more reasoned approach to combating corruption, as huge crowds turned out to support Hazare.
Speaking at the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, Singh said “all right thinking persons” agreed on the need to tackle India’s endemic culture of bribes and backhanders.
“But I feel the complexity of the task is not adequately appreciated,” he said, in a swipe at Hazare’s narrow focus on strengthening the powers of the Lokpal to monitor politicians and bureaucrats.
“The creation of the Lokpal as an institution will help, but it will not solve the problem,” Singh said, arguing that it had to be backed up by judicial reforms and a thorough revamp of government procedure.
Hazare says the government’s proposed Lokpal bill is too weak and has vowed to continue his fast unless parliament passes his version of the same legislation by August 30.
Singh said his government was “open to a reasoned debate” but stressed that there was “no single solution” for eradicating corruption.
Hazare began his fast on August 16.
The anti-corruption campaigner also told the Marathi news channel that no official mediator has approached him “till now”.
“He also said he would not speak to anyone without the presence of his advisers,” according to the news channel.
He reiterated his demand that the Lokpal bill introduced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in parliament should be withdrawn immediately “as it was weak and cannot fight the corruption menace.”
Hazare also hinted at some flexibility on the issue of excluding judiciary under the ombudsman and said this demand could be discussed during the proposed talks.
He, however, added that a proposed Judicial Accountability Bill must be strengthened if judiciary has to be kept out of the Lokpal’s jurisdiction.
He ruled negotiating with non-political mediators like spiritual guru Bhayyuji Maharaj and senior bureaucrat from Maharashtra U C Sarangi.
The two were said to be involved in back-channel talks with Hazare, but he has denied it.
Prompted by a call from Hazare, the campaign took its message yesterday to the doors of ministers and senior MPs, with scores of protesters standing outside their private residences and chanting slogans.
Hazare has called for a programme of nationwide civil disobedience if his version of the Lokpal bill is not passed.
Both sides have said they are open to negotiations, but neither seems willing to make a formal move, relying instead on a number of go-betweens to relay their respective positions.
Moves to open talks come as the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is organising a nationwide protest against the government on Thursday, while a group of left parties is planning a national protest today.
Singh continued to strike a more conciliatory tone yesterday than when Hazare’s fast first began after he was jailed by the government last week in a ham-handed move to thwart the hunger strike.
“The standing committee has the power to propose any amendment or amendments,” Singh said at the IIM event, referring to a parliamentary body looking at an anti-corruption bill before parliament that lies at the heart of the standoff.

Fasting Hazare sheds 5kg
Anna Hazare has lost 5kg since he started fasting a week ago, his aides said yesterday, adding they were “worried” about his condition. Hazare, 74, is now in the seventh day of a hunger strike that he started in jail and then took public last Friday in a bid to force the government to pass stronger anti-corruption laws. “He has lost 5kg in the past seven days. His weight has come down to 67 from 72kg,” his close associate Manish Sisodia said. “Doctors say his health is okay but we are worried,” Sisodia said. Hazare, who is consuming only water, moved his fast to an open-air venue in central Delhi last week. Yesterday he was lying on a mattress on the venue’s main stage, and did not address the large crowds as he had done on previous mornings. Hazare is attended by a team of doctors, who can be seen regularly checking his blood pressure and monitoring other vital signs. He has been given official permission to fast there until September 2.