Lokpal debate in Parliament today; will the logjam end?

As Anna Hazare enters day 12 of his fast on Saturday, Parliament will debate the Jan Lokpal Bill along with all the other versions of the Lokpal Bill. 

But it remains to be seen whether Anna's three crucial demands will be met and will the breakthrough happen. Meanwhile, sources have said that Team Anna and the government have been working on a joint statement, that will be approved by Anna shortly. 

It was supposed to be the Congress' trump card with General Secretary Rahul Gandhi finally breaking his silence on Anna Hazare's fast on Friday, but his statements only ended up reflecting the constant flip flops from the Congress side. 

"The fundamentals of democracy can't be undermined. Corruption can't be fought through a single Lokpal," Rahul said. Now the focus is on the statement to be made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament at the start of the debate itself on Saturday and see just how will the government manage to deal with the three contentious demands made by Anna to be included in the Lokpal Bill. 

In his letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, Anna made it clear that he wants a resolution approving the inclusion of lower bureaucracy, a Lokpal-like act for state Lokayuktas and setting up of citizens charter, to be passed and only then will he end his fast. 

Law Minister Salman Khursheed after a late night meeting with Team Anna on Friday said, "There are no commitments, only a hope that once Parliament debates these issues, Anna will call off his fast." Making matters tougher for the government is the BJP. 

After dithering over its stand for a long time, and asking for a vote post the debate, the party decided to support Anna's demands, but with a few riders. Now as the debate is set to take off, the government would be hoping that its past mistakes in dealing with the situation do not complicate matters further.