Stepping up pressure and raising the stakes further in his battle against the government, Anna Hazare today said he would stage dharna outside residences of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after his three-day fast in Mumbai and asked his supporters to refrain from violence during the stir.
"Some people are waiting for violence during the agitation. If there is violence, the agitation will be maligned," Hazare said addressing a "gramsabha" here tonight.
The agitation is in addition to the indefinite fast Hazare has already announced from December 27 unless a strong Lokpal bill is not adopted by Parliament. The anti-graft crusader said he would reach Mumbai tomorrow for his three-day fast beginning on December 27 at the MMRDA ground.
"After the fast, I will go to Delhi and stage a dharna outside the house of Sonia and Rahul. After Mumbai, we will hold a fast in Delhi. Our agitation has been going on for over a year but to no avail. We will need to speak in the language they (government) understand," Hazare said.
"During the agitation in Delhi, we have prepared ourselves to receive lathi blows if the government resorts to canecharge," he said.
The MMRDA ground rent is around Rs 2 lakh per day and the organisers of the fast have paid the rent with donations from the people, he said.
"The duration of the fast at Mumbai has been kept only for three days due to insistence from people not to undertake a long fast," Hazare said, adding he was fully fit to do it.
Earlier, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a meeting with the Congress General Secretaries said that Anna's campaign needs to be tackled electorally. She told the Congress General Secretaries that they must ensure that the Congress wins in Punjab, Uttarakhand and do well in Uttar Pradesh.
She told them that this would be the people's answer to Hazare's campaign. "Congress' win in the Assembly polls will be a befitting answer to Anna Hazare," Sonia said in the meeting.
Team Anna's proposal to campaign against Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections in five states raises questions of "propriety and ethics", chief election commissioner SY Quraishi said on Sunday warning that anything that comes in the way of free and fair elections is not acceptable.
