Giving in to pressure from the anti-graft stir and worried by fasting social activist Anna Hazare's condition, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday appealed to him to end his fast.

He also deputed the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to hold talks with Team Anna to end the impasse.

In a letter to the veteran Gandhian, the Prime Minister said his Government was “prepared to request the Speaker, Lok Sabha, to formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill also to the Standing Committee for their holistic consideration”.

Expressing ‘deep and genuine' concern over his health on the eighth day of his fast, Dr Singh said he was even prepared to request the Parliamentary panel to “…fast track their deliberations to the extent reasonably feasible”.

To get wider political consensus, the Government has also called an all-party meeting on Wednesday.

Sources said the breakthrough came after Dr Singh's meeting with senior Ministers, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Mr A.K. Antony and Mr P. Chidambaram and Congress General-Secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi.

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