Claiming that the alleged Rafale scam would not have taken place if the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act had been implemented by the Modi government, social activist Anna Hazare announced that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike from January 30 to demand that the Centre keep its promises regarding the anti-corruption law and farmers’ welfare.
“I have papers regarding Rafale, which I will study over the next two days, and then hold a separate press conference on it,” he said on Monday, adding that it was incomprehensible how an Ambani-led company, which was established just before the Rafale deal was signed, and had no prior defence expertise, had made a windfall from it. “If Lokpal had been implemented, Rafale [alleged scam] could not have happened,” he added.
Tha activist, who is best known for leading mass anti-corruption protests in 2011 that led to the enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act in 2013, said the Centre has failed to keep its promises.
“The government has given promises in writing that Lokpal will be implemented, that farmers will be given minimum support prices that are 1.5 times the cost of production, that pensions will be given to all the elderly. But even after five years, nothing has been done,” said Mr. Hazare.
“The country is in danger of being pushed towards a dictatorship by defying constitutional institutions like the Supreme Court and Parliament. So I will fast until it keeps its promises or until there is no more life left in my body.”
Mr. Hazare will start the fast on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, in his own village of Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra. He will be joined by farmer leaders under the banner of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, with a few farmers joining the hunger strike in Chandigarh, Mumbai, Bhopal, Faridabad, and other locations in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from Lokpal implementation, the four other demands of the agitation are full implementation of the M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations on Minimum Support Price (MSP); complete loan waiver; MSPs for fruits, vegetables and milk; and a monthly pension for elderly farmers.
