Thaindian News

Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS) Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday announced withdrawal of the proposed nationwide ‘jail bharo’ agitation which was to start Friday.

His statement came shortly after anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare announced that he would end his one-and-half-day-long hunger strike at Mumbai’s MMRDA Ground.

Kejriwal said that according to Hazare’s instructions, all the issues and forthcoming programmes would be discussed in detail and then further steps initiated.

“We feel that in view of the recent developments, there is no point in going ahead with the fast or the ‘jail bharo’ agitation. It will be reviewed,” he added.

“However, the ‘jail bharo’ agitation has been postponed. But it would be taken up at an appropriate time,” Kejriwal said.

He reiterated Hazare’s stand that the agitation for a strong Lokpal bill would be continued through a voter awareness drive, to be launched during the forthcoming elections in five states — Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

The Team Anna member also admitted that the case filed in the Bombay High Court last week was “a mistake” and endorsed Hazare’s stand that it should not have been filed in the first place.

Their petition for a concession in the hire-charges for the MMRDA grounds for Hazare’s agitation on the ground that the protest is in national interest was rejected.

He also denied that supporters were being transported in bus loads to the fast venue at Bandra-Kurla Complex venue in central Mumbai.

“Our volunteers have only kept buses on stand-by at Bandra or Kurla to transport the supporters to the MMRDA grounds since the place does not have adequate connectivity,” Kejriwal claimed.