Manmohan holds meeting of UPA partners on the issue

On a day when discussions between the government and civil society groups on the Lokpal Bill concluded in a stalemate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting of his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners in a bid to forge unity and bolster support for the sagging image of the ruling coalition.

But the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), upset with the incarceration of party supremo M. Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case, backed the civil society groups, saying it was in favour of including Prime Minister in the Lokpal Bill.

Mr. Karunanidhi, who had come to see his daughter, did not attend the UPA meeting. The DMK was represented at the meeting by its Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu.

However, Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee backed the Congress: indeed, at a press conference earlier in the day, she made her position clear on the Lokpal Bill. She said including Prime Minister in the Bill would not end corruption and slammed the civil society groups.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), represented by Union Minister Praful Patel — as Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was not in the capital — is also backing the Congress' line on the Lokpal Bill.

Earlier in the day, anticipating trouble in Parliament, the government decided to postpone the opening of the monsoon session by a fortnight to August 1, hoping to gain some more time to sort out the problems related to the Lokpal Bill.

The government also decided to call an all-party meeting to see whether the political class could make common ground. It needs some ammunition to take on social activist Anna Hazare, who has threatened to go on hunger strike from August 16 to push for his version of Lokpal Bill.

At Tuesday's meeting, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who headed the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee, briefed the UPA leaders on the discussions with the civil society team.National Conference leader and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, emerging from the meeting held at the Prime Minister's residence on 7, Race Course Road, told journalists that Mr. Mukherjee briefed them on the two drafts of the Lokpal Bill and that they would all be given copies of the two drafts.

Asked about his party's line on the Bill, he said it would be known when Parliament opened.

Apart from the Prime Minister, those who attended the meeting included Congress president Sonia Gandhi (who is also the UPA Chairperson), Mr. Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Ms. Banerjee, Mr. Patel, Dr. Abdullah, Union Minister E. Ahamed of the IUML and Ms. Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel.