Social activist Anna Hazare today sought to pump energy into the anti-corruption movement he led last year by reversing his earlier decision not to be part of the indefinite fast planned here from tomorrow by his followers.
He announced today that he would also join the hunger strike. While Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia would fast from tomorrow, he said he would join them on July 29.
The venue at Jantar Mantar, less than a kilometre from Parliament, has been booked till August 8. And, from the next day up to August 30, the Ramlila Maidan, 2 km away, has been booked for another agitation, led by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, this one against unaccounted (‘black’) money. Both teams are expected to support each other's fast.
Hazare’s team and he hope this would be a repeat of the fairly successful agitation against graft that was staged in the capital last year. The issue this time is also different. Last year, it was the Lok Pal Bill. Team Anna is now demanding an investigation into charges of corruption against 15 Cabinet ministers and over 150 MPs. These include President-elect Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Hazare said today he was calling upon citizens to consider the fast as a second freedom struggle. He said if the government failed to investigate the ministers, then he would begin a ‘jail bharo’ agitation. He urged the public to join him in the agitation.
The government's attempt to make peace through secret parleys has boosted the confidence of Kejriwal and his team mates. “They wanted to prevent this fast, for if the ministers are investigated, all of them would be in jail,” he says.
Also Read
A year before, the team caught the imagination of the public, who seized upon the protests as a vent to their own frustration and anger at the state of affairs in the country. A year later, Kejriwal is not sure what the turnout will be. “We will protest whether people come out in support or not,'' he says.
Shekhar Singh, a critic of Kejriwal and member of the Aruna Roy-led National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information, says the movement has definitely lost momentum. Yet, he believes Kejriwal and his friends might emerge stronger.
Last year, Hazare was at centrestage, with Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan, and Kiran Bedi surrounding him. Also playing important roles were Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Medha Patkar, P V Rajagopal, Devender Sharma and Rajendra Singh. Today, most of these allies have turned their back on Kejriwal.
Patkar, for instance,has stopped sharing a stage with the activists ever since she felt they were targeting only one political party and indicating sympathy for right-wing elements. She is presently in the Narmada valley. She might reach Delhi at the end of the month but her associates said she might not take part in the agitation.