Team Anna
25 July 2012. Team Anna today launched an indefinite fast against United Progressive Alliance UPA government demanding a strong Jan Lokpal bill and ending corruption in India. The Team also accused new President Pranab Mukherjee of corruption. They demanded an independent probe into the allegations of corruption against 15 ministers, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Kejriwal flashed several papers claiming they were documents of various scams Mukherjee was involved in. “It is really unfortunate that the president of India is involved in the rice scam, the Scorpene submarine scam and the navy war room leak. Ideally, he should have been sworn in only after getting a clean chit from investigation agencies,” he said. Key Team Anna members- Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai – sat on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar here while the 74-year-old activist is on a dharna. Anna did not commence the fast because of his ill health and his doctors have advised him not to do so. However, he said that if the government does not take any action within the next for days he will commence the fast on Saturday. The Congress-led UPA government on Wednesday appeared to be unmoved. Before reaching the protest venue, Anna Hazare and his team members went to Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Villagers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan kept pouring in through the day. Many rural supporters echoed the crippling effect of corruption on their lives. This was a a big shift from Hazare’s campaigns last year that were dominated by an urban crowd. Minutes after the Team Anna leaders took the dais around noon today, a group of around 20-30 members appeared among the crowd wearing ‘I am Anna’ caps. They shouted slogans against Arvind Kejriwal but were soon removed from the venue. The activists are believed to be members of National Student’s Union Of India (NSUI). Meanwhile, V Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office dismissed the incident as a ploy by Team Anna members to divert the attention of the people by levelling such allegations. Team Anna member Kumar Vishwas, meanwhile, said they would release an audio clip, which, he claimed, was recorded by a volunteer, in which a member of NSUI is purported to have said, ‘Give Anna a push and beat up Arvind and Manish’, NSUI leader Rohit Chowdhary later denied any hand of his organisation in the ruckus and claimed that it was created by some unidentified ‘miscreants’ at Team Anna’s fast. Select Committee Chairman Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, “The chances of introducing the Lokpal Bill in the next session of Parliament are dim despite government’s concerted efforts to do so.” The reason is that consultations with several political parties still remain and a consensus over a fully competent anti-graft legislation still eludes. At a press conference in Constitution Club yesterday, Team Anna members presented a united front with all leading activists – Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi, Shanti Bhushan and Kejriwal – extending full support to Anna Hazare ahead of their fast protest in the national capital. . “The government is continuously cheating people. They first formed a drafting committee to frame a good draft of the bill. When on 5th April, I began my hunger strike at the Jantar Mantar, the government agreed to our demands. I was asked to end my hunger strike and later backtracked,” said Hazare. “Firstly, the government backtracked in the joint committee, second time the standing committee backtracked and for the third time the Parliament backtracked,” he added.
