Made judgement errors, but govt made no mistakes

Law minister Salman Khurshid, a key negotiator with Team Anna, today said that there may have been "errors of judgement" in handling Hazare's fast but there were no mistakes. HT reports.

On a day Anna Hazare ended his 13-day fast, law and justice and minorities affairs minister Salman Khurshid put up a stout defence of the government's handling of the campaign led by the septuagenarian social activist.

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In an interview to CNN-IBN, Khurshid insisted that the government had not made any mistakes, though there may have been errors of judgement.

"Errors of judgment have been made. Errors of judgement are made whenever you are involved in a difficult situation. But errors of judgment are not mistakes" Khurshid said.

He admitted that the government had lost some ground, but it was determined to regain it.

"What we did may not have turned out to be the way it should. Maybe our calculation and anticipation turned out to be not what we thought it to be. But I am not prepared to admit we made mistakes," he said.

Describing Hazare as an icon, Khurshid said sending him to jail "did not look good cosmetically", but it was done on the orders of a magistrate.

In Lucknow, Khurshid expressed satisfaction over the outcome of negotiations between the Centre and Team Anna. He told reporters that while consultations and negotiations took time, an acceptable solution had been found. "It was a win-win situation for everybody," Khurshid said.

He said everybody in the government had worked under the guidance of the Prime Minister and it would be incorrect to question his leadership.

He said the recent developments will contribute to the government's understanding of mass movements in the 21st century. "It was a unique experience and we managed to get everyone on board... The Parliament adopted the best possible resolution," he said.

Defending the way the government handled the Hazare campaign, he said, "It is courage of conviction. We are not pushovers. We may have lost ground somewhere but we are determined to get that ground back."

Khurshid said a complex situation had unfolded into a good resolution.

On Swami Agnivesh's role, he said the government was in touch with several people who played a role in achieving a breakthrough.