Bolstered by consensus at the all-party meeting that parliamentary processes cannot be subverted, the government drew the hard line in its talks with Team Anna this evening, rejecting their demand to adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill in toto, and telling them bluntly that the collective will of parties in Parliament could not be defied.
Emerging from the meeting at Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s North Block office, ashen-faced aides of Anna Hazare told reporters that the government had done a volte face over yesterday, and that negotiations were back to “square one”.
Soon afterward, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan joined Anna on the stage at Ramlila Maidan, and told the crowd that should the fasting activist be picked up tonight, they must not turn violent.
The two sides are scheduled to meet for the third time tomorrow.
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