Singh rejects Annas three-week deadline

Amid this, the Indian government has taken first awkward little steps for a dialogue with the civil society leaders.Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh broke the pattern of official denials of any scope for any modification in the government Lokpal Bill by offering dialogue and discussions on the draft law.He said while there was scope for give and take, it might not be possible to meet Annas three-week deadline for passing the bill.Team Annas Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan appeared to be responding to this when they said at a press conference that Annas deadline was not a threat but only an expression of his fundamental right to express his opinion.The two also added they were open to dialogue but no one from the government had approached them so far.While its difficult to say whether these overtures would lead to meaningful talks, there was growing appreciation in the government of the fact that the anti-corruption movement was steadily gaining popularity and there was need for an urgent political response to it, especially as Annas fast had already crossed 110 hours (five days).With the Hazare group insistent that the governments Lokpal bill be replaced by its stronger version, the PM indicated the official bill was not the last word.