Hazare to go on indefinite fast tomorrow for Lokpal Bill

Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra) – Veteran social activist Anna Hazare will launch an indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday to press for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament.

“We have been promised repeatedly that the bill will be passed. But it is more than a year and it has not been passed yet. The government has taken the people for a ride,” Hazare told media persons here Monday morning.

He demanded that the bill must come up during the ongoing winter session of parliament, and said he would continue his hunger strike until the promised legislation is passed.

Hazare said there could have been several factors behind the outcome of the assembly elections in four states Sunday, and one of them was the non-passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The 76-year-old former army driver said the “Congress has cheated the people” on this issue, and warn! ed that if it continues to dilly-dally further, the voters will again v! ent their anger against the ruling party at the centre in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

This time, Hazare plans to sit on hunger-strike near the Yadavbaba temple in his Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district along with his supporters and some volunteers.