Bhubaneshwar:
Rahul Gandhi has said that he believes that the Lokpal Bill - meant to combat corruption among politicians and bureaucrats - should not apply to the Prime Minister till he or she completes his term.
The government has been searching for consensus among different political parties on whether the Prime Minister's Office should be covered by the Bill, which is meant to be introduced in parliament in the monsoon session which starts August 1.
The Opposition BJP has said that the Lokpal (Citizen's Ombudsman) Bill should apply to the PM, except in cases where national security would be affected. The DMK, which is a member of the UPA coalition at the Centre, has also contradicted the Congress' preferred stand - that the PM should be exempt.