India's corruption deadlock looks set to end soon

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NEW DELHI: India's parliament prepared on Friday to debate the anti-corruption proposals of a self-styled Gandhian activist in a move to end an 11-day hunger strike that has united millions of Indians against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government.

The campaign by 74-year-old Anna Hazare has sparked the biggest protests in decades from a middle class angered by endemic bribes. He emerged as a lightening rod for widespread anger at a political class seen as arrogant and out-of touch.

The debate on Hazare's proposals to create a powerful anti-corruption agency, a condition he made to end his fast, may take place on Saturday as parliament struggled on Friday to agree on the wording of several of the proposals, sources in the ruling Congress Party told.

Several thousand supporters gathered by the stage where Hazare was fasting in an open ground in the capital, New Delhi, singing Bollywood songs. Hazare has lost 7 kilos, but his health is stable, doctors said.

After a personal appeal from Singh, Hazare said on Thursday evening he would consider breaking his fast if parliament began discussing his tough anti-corruption proposals, including incorporating low level civil servants into graft probes.

There was some confusion to whether Hazare would end the fast at the start of the debate or when the anti-corruption bill was passed, and the debate may not take place on Friday. (Reuters)