JOIN US“There is a Constitution, the basic features of which cannot be altered. There are political realities. No party in India commands majority in Parliament. There is a gap between what is desirable and feasible. We must respect the political process”, the minister said. Hazare has announced to go on hunger strike again from August 16 if the government adopts a watered-down version of Bill.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said Hazare’s threat to go on a hunger strike in the event of the government rejecting the civil society draft bill is “not the right way to take the discourse forward.”
Asked if the talks have failed with the members of the civil society, the HRD Minister, also present in the conference said: “From our side, the talks have not failed” and asserted that "the government is serious on drafting the Lokpal Bill."
Sibal responded sharply to suggestions that the Ministers are worried about spending time in jail if a stronger version of the Bill was adopted. “This is “not the kind of discourse” expected from the members appointed by Anna Hazre to draft the Bill”, he remarked. Another Union Minister Salman Khurshid asserted that the ministers showed restraint in the meeting despite accusations.