Govt, opposition agree to voice vote on Anna Hazare's three demands

New Delhi, Aug.27 (ANI): The government and the opposition on Saturday reached an agreement under which Parliament will adopt a resolution incorporating the three demands of Team Anna with a voice vote.

The turnaround came when BJP heard Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal announce at the Ramlila grounds that the government had conveyed to them the opposition's reluctance to vote on a resolution in Parliament on the Lokpal issue.

National Democratic Alliance Working President L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in Rajya Sahba Arun Jaitley took the matter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Television channels including Times Now, NDTV and CNN-IBN quoted sources, as saying that Mukherjee and Law Minister Salman Kurshid denied that the government had made any such charge.

When the BJP insisted that in the changed circumstances, a resolution should be moved and put to a voice vote, the government agreed to it.

Some young ministers and lawmakers from the Congress also insisted on a resolution and vote, as they felt Team Anna will not settle for anything less.

It has been decided that the resolution will be moved by Mukherjee. The wording of the resolution was worked out with the Opposition.

Sources said the resolution mentions all the three demands of Anna Hazare, namely Citizens' Charter, Lokayukta in states and including lower bureaucracy under Lokpal's ambit.

The resolution states that the House agrees "in principle" on these issues. It will be put to a voice vote in both Houses. Once the resolution is passed, Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh will take its translated Marathi version to Anna Hazare and request him to break his fast.

Team Anna Hazare , welcoming the announcement, said it was a "very happy" development.

Earlier, fresh trouble emerged this afternoon after government decided only to convey sense of House to Team Anna and not put the resolution for voting, the activists hardened their position saying it was "betrayal" and only a resolution which will be put to vote will be acceptable.

This forced the government to change its stand. The activist's camp said they have received the communication from the government about its decision to put the resolution to voice vote. "We are very happy with the development," a Team Anna spokesperson said.

Asked whether Hazare would end his fast today, the spokesperson said the decision will be taken by Hazare himself. "Hazare will decide whether to break his fast today or tomorrow morning. Normally, he prefers to break the fast in the mornings," the spokesperson said. (ANI)