Anna's demand met; LS to discuss Jan Lokpal

Anna Hazare's major demand is set to be met with the government on Thursday deciding to have a discussion in the Lok Sabha on Friday on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Sources said the discussion will take place on the Bill in the shape of a "document" and its salient features after which the records of the debate are expected to be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee examining the Lokpal Bill.

It was, however, not clear immediately whether the debate would be held under Rule 193 or Rule 184, which entails voting.

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The decision in this regard was reached during hectic parleys within the government, which included Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Subsequently, Singh held consultations with senior ministerial colleagues Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony.

The decision to hold the discussion marks meeting of a major demand of Hazare who said only then he would decide on ending his 10-day fast.

During the discussion, members will be free to speak on Aruna Roy's version of Lokpal Bill as also another version.

In view of the discussion, Parliament will have a sitting on Saturday, the sources said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal also held a meeting with Mukherjee on the issue of discussions.

The meeting took place soon after Hazare reacted to Parliament's appeal to end his fast and demanded that it discusses from Friday the three key issues on Jan Lokpal and create an agreement first.

He has warned that if the Parliament failed to do this, he will not end the fast.

Bansal also had a meeting with Law Minister Salman Khurshid apparently to work out the format for such a discussion. East Delhi MP Sandip Dikshit, who also been involved in negotiations with Team Anna, was also present in the meeting.

The meetings took place on a day when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that Parliament will find effective ways and means to discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill, along with the government version of the Bill, Aruna Roy's Bill and the paper presented by Jaiprakash Narayan.

He also made an appeal to the Gandhian to end his fast.