NEW DELHI: As Ramlila Maidan, where Gandhian Anna Hazare is on an indefinite fast, turned into a sea of people on Saturday, and it became apparent that the upsurge for a strong anti-corruption law was not a fickle middle-class fancy but an ever-growing demand of the people, the government took its first awkward little steps for a dialogue with the civil society leaders.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh broke the pattern of official denials of any scope for any modification in the government Lokpal Bill by offering dialogue and discussions on the draft law. He said while there was scope for "give and take", it might not be possible to meet Anna's three-week deadline for passing the bill. Team Anna's Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan appeared to be responding to this when they said at a press conference that Anna's deadline was not a threat but only "an expression of his fundamental right to express his opinion".
The two also added they were open to dialogue but no one from the government had approached them so far. While it's difficult to say whether these overtures would lead to meaningful talks, there was growing appreciation in the government of the fact that the anti-corruption movement was steadily gaining popularity and there was need for an urgent political response to it, especially as Anna's fast had already crossed 110 hours (five days).
With the Hazare group insistent that the government's Lokpal bill be replaced by its "stronger" version, the PM indicated the official bill was not the last word.
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