Anna defiant as Govt looks for escape route

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, with its back against the wall, is still in a bind on how to deal with Anna Hazare's protest fast against corruption which entered its seventh day on Monday.

Despite losing 5 kg in the last seven days Hazare is still talking tough and has made it clear that he will negotiate only with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister's Officer or Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Even as the logjam over the inclusion of the Prime Minister, judiciary and the entire bureaucracy under the proposed Lokpal continues, there was a hint of a climbdown from the Government with Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh indicating that a separate law for lower judiciary is under consideration.

According to Ramesh such a law will ensure transparency in the working of the bureaucracy.

"The Government is mulling a separate law for lower bureaucracy and this could be one of the proposals to be sent to Team Anna," said Ramesh.

The UPA had called in Bhayyu Maharaj, a spiritual leader close to Hazare, UC Sarangi, a senior Maharashtra bureaucrat, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the master of the Art of Living, to engage with the 74-year-old social activist..

However, Hazare clarified that he would not negotiate with any other mediator including Union Home Minister P Chidambaram or Union Telecom and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal. Hazare said that Lokpal Bill negotiations cannot happen with non-government mediators. He also added that he was ready to talk with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

"He told me he is not interested in Bhaiyu Maharaj, he is not interested in UC Sarangi. Either Prime Minister or Prime Minister's Office or Rahul Gandhi should speak to him," said IBN Lokmat Editor-in-Chief Nikhil Wagle who met Hazare on Monday.

But what is deafening is the silence within the Congress and the Ggovernment after party spokesperson Manish Tewari and others faced flak for their strong comments against Hazare.

The UPA has now done a U-turn and seems to have gone soft.

Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam told Hazare supporters that he would put their demands across to Parliament Standing Committe Chairman Abhishek Manu Singhvi and will onvince them that Team Anna and the nation's demand are the same.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, too, sounded optimistic about finding a solution to the logjam..

"We are open to a reasonable debate on all these issues," said Singh while addressing a function in in Kolkata.

Singhvi also said that the Standing Committee will find a solution to the Lokpal issue.

But as things get hot for the Congress and Government, it's become a walk from one crisis to another with Government strategy makers increasingly realising that they may have to budge from their hard stand. The problem for them lies in how to do it without giving the impression of being a soft state.