Thaindian News

Bangalore, Dec 27 (IANS) About 1,500 people from all walks of life Tuesday joined campaign for a strong Lokpal bill and 25 people are on fast in support of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare at Freedom Park in the heart of the Karnataka capital.

“As the day progressed, hundreds of people, including young and old, have joined us in support of the movement against corruption. There were about 1,500 activists at the public meeting in the evening and 25 activists of the India Against Corruption (IAC) group are on a three-day fast,” a Team Anna member told IANS.

Admitting that the response to join the campaign was not to the expectations of the organisers on the first day, IAC’s Bangalore chapter member Anand Yadawad said that about 15,000 people from the state, including 12,300 from Bangalore, have so far registered with the group for ‘jail bharo’ (courting arrest to go jail) Dec 30.

“Majority of the activists who came to the venue have registered for courting arrest to go to jail Friday. We have also received hundreds of names online and through e-mail and SMS for ‘jail bharo’ in the state. We are expecting another 10,000 people to register for the event during the next two days,” Yadawad asserted.

Justice (retired) N. Santosh Hegde, a member of the Team Anna, could not be present at the venue as he flew to Mumbai to be with Hazare during the three-day fast.

Addressing the gathering, freedom fighter and Gandhian H.S. Doraiswamy urged the people to sustain the campaign by participating in the fast and courting arrests in thousands Dec 30 for ensuring parliament would pass a strong and effective Lokpal bill to fight against the menace of corruption.

“This is a historic occasion for the people to join the movement for freedom from corruption. We fought for the freedom of the country from the colonial rulers. Now it is your turn to fight against corruption by conveying a strong message to the lawmakers for a strong law against giving and taking bribe,” Doraiswamy exhorted.

IAC core committee member Prithvi Reddy said the Lokpal bill introduced by the government was not effective.

“We do not want the government’s Lokpal bill to be passed unless some significant changes are made. We want the Lokpal to have its own investigative officers and budget; must cover all government employees and the appointment of Lokpal must be transparent,” Reddy said.

The purpose of the fast is to bring people together, discuss and deliberate the latest version of the Lokpal bill before parliament.

In a related development, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction to restrain the three-day fast and ‘jail bharo’ stir over the Lokpal bill.

Rejecting the petition filed by city advocate A.V. Amanath, a division bench of Justice Rammohan Reddy and Justice Venugopal Rao observed that there was no public interest involved in the plea.