Indian Government, Activist Near Deal

NEW DELHI—The Indian government and anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare appeared to inch closer to a deal Thursday afternoon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and parliamentarians appealed to the Gandhian activist to call off his fast.

Anindito Mukherjee/European Pressphoto Agency

Anna Hazare addressed crowds during the tenth day of his hunger strike New Delhi, Thursday.

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Talks between Mr. Hazare's top aides and government officials had ended in acrimony Wednesday night. But as Mr. Hazare's indefinite fast -- demanding that Parliament pass his version of a new anti-graft bill -- entered its tenth day, Mr. Singh and a range of political parties repeated their request for him to quit, saying they all were committed to fighting corruption. At issue are various versions of legislation, including one put forward by Mr. Hazare and another by the government, to create a Lokpal, or ombudsman, agency to investigate official corruption.

"He has become the embodiment of our people's disgust and concern about tackling corruption. I applaud him, I salute him," Mr. Singh said of Mr. Hazare. "His life is much too precious and therefore, I would urge" Mr. Hazare to end his fast, he said.

A federal minister from the same western state of Maharashtra that is Mr. Hazare's home emerged Thursday as a potentially key interlocutor.

Hazare's Anticorruption Crusade

Anna Hazare, the 73-year-old activist, is at the center of the standoff between India's government and civil society over the terms of an anticorruption law. See major events.

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Supporters of Mr. Hazare rallied in New Delhi Wednesday.

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Vilasrao Deshmukh, minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, met Mr. Hazare at his protest site in Delhi's Ramlila Grounds. The meeting was first direct official communication between the activist and the government. Until now, the government has been negotiating with Mr. Hazare's aides.

Mr. Hazare, 73 years old, told his supporters after his meeting with Mr. Deshmukh that he had passed along his concerns to the prime minister. He said he would give up his fast only after the parties in the Parliament reached agreement on the three sticking points that remain between his version of the Lokpal bill and the government's. "The protest will continue from this site till all our demands are met," Mr. Hazare added.

A spokesman for the federal Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said the government has agreed to hold a discussion in Parliament starting Friday on all the versions of the bill including that of Mr. Hazare and his supporters. The government is now working on details of how the discussion should be held, he added.

The three key areas of difference between the two sides are instituting ombudsman offices in all states, including the entire bureaucracy from villages to federal ministries under new agency's purview and instituting a citizen's charter to redress public grievances. The government has sought to restrict the agency's purview to the higher echelons of the civil service.

Mr. Hazare said he was adamant on these three areas because "I am for the poor."

He said under India's landmark Right to Information act, passed in 2005, villagers were unearthing corruption in development projects like construction of canal but there was no agency where they could go to seek punishment for the corrupt.

Mr. Hazare exhorted his supporters that if the government doesn't agree to start the debate on the Lokpal bill in Parliament starting Friday, then they should start picketing the houses of their parliamentarians in Delhi and around the country.

Mr. Hazare's failing health has been a concern for the government, political parties and his supporters. Doctors treating Mr. Hazare have said he needs hospitalization, which he has denied.

In response to a call by Mr. Hazare's top aides, some protesters took to the streets in central New Delhi and police blocked most of the roads and thoroughfares leading to the prime minister's residence fearing large protesting crowds. They also closed four metro rail stations around the prime minister's residence.

Many traders in the city shut their shops in support of Mr. Hazare. And, in Mumbai, crowds gathered Thursday afternoon at the Bandra East local railway station and marched to an office of the Reserve Bank of India, the nation's central bank, at an industrial complex nearby. The crowd of a few thousand chanted slogans and brandished the Indian flag.

"We want the government to hold discussion on mainly three points of contention – inclusion of lower bureaucracy, Lokayukta at all states, and a citizen's charter," said Manan Gandhi, a student, who participated.

—Diksha Sahni in Mumbai contributed to this article.

Write to Krishna Pokharel at krishna.pokharel@wsj.com and Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com

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