Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, anti-graft activist Anna Hazare on Monday said the party used him and exploited his Jan Lokpal agitation to come to power in 2014.
Speaking to reporters in his Ralegan Siddhi village on the sixth day of his hunger strike, Mr. Hazare said both the BJP and AAP could come to power only by riding the crest of his agitation for the Lokpal and the Lokayukta Bill and that they had betrayed him by not appointing ombudsmen.
“The BJP and AAP are in power because of my agitation over the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill. But now, the ruling BJP leaders are silent on the issue. They seem to have developed an allergy towards getting ombudsmen appointed,” Mr. Hazare said.
Targeting the Modi government, the 81-year-old activist said it did not adhere to constitutional norms and that the Prime Minister was transforming the Central government into a dictatorship.
Stating that he had lost all faith in the Ministers of both the Central [Narendra Modi] and State [Devendra Fadnavis] governments, he said: “The State government says that 90% of the demands have been approved. What sort of a deception is this? If it had indeed accepted all my demands, then what reason was there for me to go on a hunger strike?”
He further said that it did not make any difference whether the Modi government was replaced by the Congress in the upcoming general election. “Even if this government falls, I don’t see any great change happening. One [read BJP-led NDA government] is a graduate in corruption and non-implementation of the Lokpal and it would be replaced by someone with a doctorate [read Congress-led UPA government],” he said.
Mr. Hazare said he had dissuaded Ministers from the Centre and the State, including the Chief Minister, from visiting him as they had nothing concrete to offer. “I have told them that unless they come with a concrete proposal that the Centre would appoint a Lokpal and immediately look into the interests of farmers, it is pointless trying to persuade me to give up my fast,” he said.
Fadnavis appeal
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has urged Mr. Hazare to give up his fast while stating that certain individuals were playing politics over his stir. Talking to newsmen in Satara, he said: “We have acceded to his [Anna’s] requests and the Centre too has communicated that it taken his demands seriously. We are in constant communication with him and urge him to end his fast,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis said a number of parties and individuals, who had no concern whatsoever about his health, were now supporting his fast and misleading the people about the role of the State and Central governments.
In a rebuke to the opposition as well as the Shiv Sena, Mr. Fadnavis said individuals who had criticised Mr. Hazare in the past were suddenly expressing their support for him.
