The call for a fresh agitation was in addition to Anna’s scheduled indefinite fast in Delhi or Mumbai from December 27 demanding a strong Lokpal Bill. It came on the heels of an all-party meeting failing to arrive at a consensus on Lokpal Bill.
Addressing the media after a meeting of the core committee of his team, Hazare said: “All those people attached with this movement and who feel strongly about the Jan Lokpal bill will participate in the jail bharo andolan. We will fill jails all over the country.”
The anti-graft activist also announced plans to hold protests in front of the houses of MPs not supporting a stringent Lokpal Bill. He added that Delhi was the first option as venue for his hunger strike. However, the agitation could be shifted to Mumbai if the winter in the national capital aggravated. He asserted that if the time was an issue then the winter session of Parliament, scheduled to end December 22, should be extended.
“If there is no time for passing the bill (according to the present schedule), then extend it….it is important for the country. Earlier also, you have occasions when the session was extended,” he reasoned. The Gandhian further said the bill had come in the Parliament eight times in the past but was yet to be passed. “This is not a question of Anna, this is a national question... It is a question related to the poor,” Hazare said, stressing the importance of his version of the Lokpal (ombudsman) bill.
When it was pointed out that some leaders had cautioned against rushing through the Bill, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said, “Who are these parties? Not the BJP surely as Sushma Swaraj tweeted that they want it in this session. Are they managed voices, isolated voices?”
Bedi also opined that there was unanimity among political parties on giving autonomy to the country’s premiere investigating agency, the CBI.
Hazare asserted that Class 3 and 4 government employees should be brought under the purview of Lokpal. “We will not accept it otherwise,” the 74-year-old activist said, adding that he would insist on it even if it meant risking his life.