Talks: Anna team said leave NGOs,skipped PM

According to sources present at the meeting,when Prashant Bhushan argued that NGOs should be kept out of the Bill’s purview,a committee member objected saying that all NGOs are not angels which have descended from heaven and there are some corrupt ones as well.

Bhushan then revised his stance saying those NGOs which receive government aid could be brought under Lokpal’s purview. In what was construed as an attempt to exempt NGOs receiving money from private donors — both national and international — as also those within the country,Hazare’s team argued that if somebody gets some money from his friend and misuses it,there could be a civil suit for it.

Incidentally,Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement has enlisted many high-profile donors,including private firms,banks and CEOs. India Vision Foundation,an NGO founded by Kiran Bedi who is part of Hazare’s team,also has many national and international donors,including Lehman Brothers,Bharti Wal-Mart,foreign embassies,etc.

At the meeting,Hazare’s team did not broach the contentious issue of bringing the Prime Minister and judiciary under the Lokpal. Barely a day earlier,Hazare’s close associate Swami Agnivesh had said in a television interview that they were “flexible” on this issue.

Exhorting Hazare to put off his planned fast from August 16,Ram Vilas Paswan asked him what the government would do if someone went on fast-unto-death demanding scrapping of reservation in jobs. In his inimitable style,Lalu Prasad Yadav suggested that if Hazare agrees to work within the system,he would support him in “seizing” all black money and distributing it among people.

Citing Shanti Bhushan’s affidavit in the Supreme Court accusing former Chief Justices of India of corruption,the BSP’s Vijay Bahadur Singh was learnt to have said,“Now you have put four judges in your selection committee. The government’s Bill is much better.”

Ahead of their meeting on Wednesday evening,Hazare’s team was reported to have stated that their meeting with the parliamentary committee was a mere “formality”. At the meeting,however,they blamed the media for misquoting them. In fact,after the first few minutes,when Hazare and his team took a tough stance asking the committee to tell the government to draft a new Lokpal Bill,they got down to do clause-by-clause discussion on the Bill.

Asked at a press conference today about the Hazare team’s comment about their meeting with the parliamentary committee being a formality,Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “On the contrary,he affirmed his commitment to parliamentary democracy.”

Hazare and his associates are likely to be invited again by the Standing Committee as they told the committee that they had come at a very short notice and would like to make a proper presentation at another meeting.