Team Anna plans referendum on Jan Lokpal in Rae Bareli

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at piling up pressure on the government to legislate on the anti-graft bill, Team Anna has decided to assess public perception on the Jan Lokpal bill in Amethi and Rae Bareli -- constituencies represented by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha respectively.

“The time till Parliament's winter session (November) is important as the Standing Committee considering the Lokpal bill will hear views of various groups on this issue,” Anna Hazare's associate and civil society activist Manish Sisodiya said here. The first question in the “referendum” will be whether the MPs should support the Jan Lokpal bill proposed by Anna Hazare or not and the second question will be on whether people should vote for those MPs who have opposed the bill.

In UP, the survey will also be conduct in Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Ambedkar Nagar and Mainpuri. Members of Team Anna will not have any direct role to play in this exercise and the entire process will be monitored by people who were associated with Hazare's recent movements.

A similar survey was carried out by Team Anna in July in HRD minister Kapil Sibal's constituency of Chandi Chowk where it was claimed that an overwhelming 85% of people had favoured the Jan Lokpal bill. Favouring a national referendum on the issue, Anna Hazare had said the government will have to listen to the voices of people .