Team Hazare meets Advani, Bardhan

New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) Activist Anna Hazare team on
Friday met senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K
Advani and CPI (Communist Party of India) leader A B Bardhan,
launching their initiative to reach out to political parties
to drum up support for their version of the Lokpal Bill
(Ombudsman) ahead of the July 3 all-party meeting.
Civil society activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi
and Manish Sisodia called on Advani this morning to discuss
the Lokpal Bill and briefed him about the proposed
legislation.
BJP sources said Advani maintained that his party was
very much in favour of an effective Lokpal but a more fruitful
meeting could take place with civil society activists only
when his colleagues -- Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
(lower house in the Indian Parliament) Sushma Swaraj, her
counterpart in Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Parliament)
Arun Jaitley and party president Nitin Gadkari return to the
capital.
Advani, however, suggested that the BJP top brass and
Anna's team should meet once before the July 3 all-party
meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the
Lokpal Bill.
"The meeting was very encouraging. Advani told us that
the country needs an effective Lokpal. He heard us and
requested us that we make a detailed presentation before
senior BJP leaders," Bedi told PTI after the meeting.
Though BJP is "looking into" all aspects of the Lokpal
Bill - including the drafts prepared by Anna's team and the
government - it will air its views on the issue only after
listening to the UPA regime's arguments at the all-party meet.
In his meeting with Anna's team today, Bardhan sought
some clarifications on their draft Bill.
"He had some doubts about the legal aspects of the
office of Lokpal. We have decided to meet again to clear his
doubts," Sisodia said.

Sisodia said Hazare and others will take part in the
deliberations with top BJP leaders next week.
The Anna camp said they were not looking for
assurances from the party at this point as they wanted only to
put across their views and brief Advani about it.
This was the second meeting between Anna's team and
Advani. The civil society activists had taken a similar
initiative to meet political leaders before Anna Hazare sat on
his indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in April.
BJP sources said the party has been forming a view on
the Lokpal Bill but since its opinion was not sought by the
government it would express them in Parliament when the Bill
is brought for passage.
"There have been a lot of in-house discussions on the
Lokpal Bill. Issues like whether the Prime Minister should
come under its ambit, whether the CBI, CVC and higher
judiciary should fall within its jurisdiction have been
debated," a senior party leader said.
Though former Prime Minister and BJP leader Atal Bihari
Vajpayee had said he was not averse to the Prime Minister
coming under the ambit of Lokpal, the BJP is reportedly in two
minds on the issue.
The BJP is wary that frivolous charges can be levelled
against the Prime Minister to the Lokpal. Moreover, some
aspects of governance and decision-making by the Prime
Minister cannot be brought in the public domain and so should
not be brought under the Lokpal.
Anna's team plans to meet leaders from all political
parties. They feel the government version of the ombudsman is
for targeting those who complain against the menace.
The Hazare team felt that the exclusion of a large
chunk of the bureaucracy from the ambit of Lokpal and the
provision to hear officials accused of corruption before
filing of case and charge sheet were not proper.