Impasse Lingers Between Indian Hunger Striker and Government

Anna Hazare and India’s government continued Friday as Mr. Hazare vowed to maintain his hunger strike until leaders in Parliament agreed to key elements of his proposal for an independent anticorruption agency.
Expectations were high that Mr. Hazare, 74, might finally end his fast on Friday, the 11th day of his hunger strike. A day earlier, India’s Parliament, prodded by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accepted one of Mr. Hazare’s key demands by agreeing that his legislation should be introduced and debated.
Instead, Friday was a day of political maneuvering and brinksmanship. In a letter to the prime minister, Mr. Hazare demanded that lawmakers quickly approve a resolution agreeing to use the current session to pass legislation creating the anticorruption agency, known as a Lokpal, and that the agency closely hew to elements of his proposed legislation.
“My inner conscience tells me if there is a consensus on these proposals, I will break my fast,” he said. Even so, he said, he would continue staging a sit-in protest in New Delhi until the legislation became law.
Mr. Hazare has lost more than 15 pounds and has rejected advice from doctors that he accept a glucose drip to prevent kidney problems. As yet, Mr. Hazare’s health is not considered threatened, but analysts are increasingly concerned that the situation could spin out of control unless a deal is quickly reached.
Mr. Hazare’s demands are focused on a few main elements: he wants a Lokpal with investigative powers over the federal government and similar independent organizations to monitor corruption in each state; he wants all public officials up to and including the prime minister to come under their ambit, excepting only the judiciary; and he wants lawmakers to require that all government departments create Citizens Charters, the equivalent of publicly accessible contracts explaining what services each office provides and how long it takes to deliver them.
It remained unclear how Indian officials would react. Lawmakers in competing parties will begin discussing Mr. Hazare’s proposed legislation on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, the son of Sonia Gandhi, who leads the governing Indian National Congress Party, broke his conspicuous silence on the issue by delivering a parliamentary address in which he recommended that any new anticorruption agency become a constitutional body answerable to Parliament. Mr. Gandhi, a general secretary of his mother’s party, also called for government financing of elections, transparency in government contracting, tax reform and tougher regulation over land acquisitions and mining.