New Delhi, December 11: Gandhian Anna Hazare will observe a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday to protest against the Lokpal draft prepared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and to push for a strong Lokpal Bill.
Anna is expected to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and then move to Jantar Mantar to begin his fast. He is expected to break his fast at 5 pm.
Interestingly, Team Anna on Saturday said that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat and leaders from several other parties will be among those who will visit the fast site at Jantar Mantar to discuss Lokpal Bill. They said that they had also invited the Congress but it had conveyed it will not be attending.
Other political leaders like Sharad Yadav of JD(U), Chandrababu Naidu of TDP, Pinaki Misra of BJD and Ram Gopal Yadav of Samajwadi Party are also expected to visit the fast site and discuss Lokpal Bill.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police have beefed up security at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi.
“We will beef up security in and around Jantar Mantar (Sunday). Around 1,000 police personnel will be deployed. Apart from this, metal detectors and other arrangements will be made near the stage,” a police officer told a news agwncy.
Hazare arrived in the national capital yesterday and launched a vitriolic attack on the government saying that the Lokpal bill tabled in the Parliament is nothing but a “political fraud”.
“The Lokpal report prepared by the Standing Committee headed by Abhishek Singhvi is just an eye wash. The government has cheated the entire country. Is it a government or grocery shop?” said Hazare addressing a press conference in the national capital.
“The govt’s Lokpal Bill has snatched the power of investigation from Lokpal and restricted it to that of a clerk. Then what is the use of the bill”, he said.
Hazare was flanked by prominent members of his team which included Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, and Medha Patkar.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given in writing that Citizen’s charter, lower bureaucracy and establishment of Lokayuktas in the states would be brought under the Lokpal Bill… The issues were brought up in the Parliament and a copy of consensus was also sent to me. After which I decided to end my fast (in August). The PM’s letter was thrown into the dustbin,” he said.
With Team Anna signalling another confrontation on the Lokpal Bill and threatening to campaign against the Congress in the forthcoming assembly polls, the government convened an all-party meeting Wednesday on the long-debated legislation that is slated to be taken up for passage in parliament’s winter session.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the all-party meeting at his official 7, Race Course Road residence Wednesday to attempt a consensus on the bill, official sources said.
They said interaction with other political parties will be preceded by meetings of cabinet and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders on Tuesday.
–Agencies–