Anna to fast for 3 days, then launch ‘jail bharo’

PUNE: Social crusader Anna Hazare slammed the citizens' charter bill which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday and declared that he would go on a three-day fast from December 27 followed by a three-day jail bharo agitation from December 30.

Hazare was addressing reporters at his native village Ralegan Siddhi along with Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal said the fast will be held in Mumbai.

"Some more bills are expected to be tabled but the bill tabled today establishes that the government is bent on ignoring the people's voice," Hazare said. "This government has become blind and deaf and is cheating our countrymen. I strongly condemn the government for this approach. Let the government go its way. I'll go my way."

Hazare said Parliament had passed a resolution on August 27 proposing that the citizens' charter, lower bureaucracy and the Lokayuktas would come under the ambit of the Lokpal. "The Prime Minister had conveyed this to me. The government's act to bring a separate citizens' charter bill is an insult to Parliament. They say I have insulted Parliament and that I do not listen to Parliament. But it is them who have insulted Parliament," he said.

The crusader said that the Uttarakhand government had initiated an effective Lokayukta bill but the Union government had not acted on it. "The government thinks it will not be affected by my fast, but the public will teach them a lesson," he said.