Congress top brass deliberates Lokpal issue

The Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, today deliberated on the strategy on the Lokpal issue ahead of the meeting of the UPA leaders in New Delhi.

The Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, on Tuesday deliberated on the strategy on the Lokpal issue ahead of the meeting of the UPA leaders in New Delhi.

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The meeting was held on a day Singh is holding consultations with UPA allies on the Lokpal issue, the first such exercise after the fiasco over FDI in retail.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee and Congress president's political secretary Ahamed Patel were present at the Congress core group meeting in which the Lokpal issue was discussed, sources said.

Singh's meeting with the UPA leaders is expected to project a united face of the ruling alliance on the issue of Lokpal at a time when it was under attack from opposition parties and Anna Hazare for coming out with a "weak" bill.

The consultations will be held a day ahead of an all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister on the ticklish issue.

The Lokpal bill is expected to come up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on December 20, two days ahead of the conclusion of the current session of Parliament.