Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: As social activist Anna Hazare continued his indefinite fast for the second day on the Lokpal Bill issue, Congress on Wednesday stuck to its stand that the agitation was premature as government was open to all suggestions.

"The fast by Anna Hazare was premature and in a democracy debates should be held before a policy is framed," party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarjan told reporters here.

Hazare has slammed the Congress for "misleading" the people by dubbing his agitation as unnecessary and premature.

Natarajan said, "While many people won`t agree on the Lokpal Bill and have different shades of opinion on the issue, the NAC and other fora are already discussing the proposed legislation.... the far reaching changes suggested by Hazare need broad discussions before a final draft can be arrived at."

At the same time, she added that "no time frame can be set" for taking such decisions as they require wider consultations.

The party had yesterday also termed the indefinite hunger strike by Hazare as "premature", saying the government had already constituted a panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony to go into the issue.

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