Social activist Anna Hazare may shift his proposed fast from December 27 on the Lokpal Bill from Delhi to Mumbai to avoid the harsh winter conditions in the Capital. This was decided at a core committee meeting of India Against Corruption, chaired by Mr. Hazare here. The committee will meet again on Thursday.
Team Anna had sought the Ramlila Maidan as the venue, for which the permission is yet to come. “We are pursuing it,” a member said.
Mr. Hazare had announced his decision to go on fast again if the government does not pass a strong and independent Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
Even as the government got into a renewed mode of consultations with allies as well as Opposition parties to work out a consensus on the Bill, Mr. Hazare urged West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to pursue the Lokpal Bill with the government, as she did for FDI in multibrand retail.
“Breach of trust”
A resolution adopted by the core committee alleged “breach of trust” as the government had not honoured the “sense of the House” resolution passed in August that spoke of a Citizen's Charter and bringing the lower bureaucracy within the ambit of the Lokpal Bill.
“The Prime Minister had also given that assurance in a separate letter to Anna Hazare asking him to break his indefinite fast. Passing of a separate Citizen's Charter Bill in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Dr. Singh on Wednesday shows that the government is dominating over Parliament,” it said.
In a statement read out by Arvind Kejriwal, Team Anna expressed its gratitude to all Opposition leaders who participated in the debate at Jantar Mantar on Sunday during Mr. Hazare's day-long fast. “We respect Parliament's supremacy in enacting laws, but in a democracy every legislation that affects people must be discussed in every corner of the country.”
