PM, Chidambaram have made govt stand on Lokpal clear: Pranab Mukherjee

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram have made clear the government's stand on the Lokpal Bill.

"I have nothing more to add," he told reporters here.

The Prime Minister, who is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata today on a two-day visit to West Bengal, had said yesterday that there was a lot of scope for give and take on the bill and the government was open to discussion and dialogue on the issue. He had also called on broad national consensus.

The Union Home Minister had earlier said that Anna Hazare, whose fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill entered the sixth day today, was free to place his views before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel which has sought public opinion on the bill. Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill was yesterday submitted for consideration before the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which is examining the government's version of the legislation.