Anna Hazare who joined his teams four-day-long fast at Jantar Mantar today, has said that he shouldn’t be asked why yoga expert and close aide Baba Ramdev and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi are sharing the stage in Gujarat.
“Don’t ask me these questions. I do not know. I was not even aware of it,” he told the crowd gathering in Jantar Mantar.
Addressing the media, Anna asked “Why am I being dragged into this controversy? Don’t create rifts between Ramdev and me.”
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi greets Baba Ramdev during an award function in Ahmedabad on Sunday. PTI
Even as Anna Hazare and his team carried on their protest against graft at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday, Ramdev was seen sharing stage with Modi at a protest rally in Ahmedabad.
Modi also reportedly gave a speech at the rally. The incident is bound to cause a stir as Team Anna has always maintained that they are not pro-BJP.
Meanwhile, in the capital, Anna launched his fast saying he would fight for a strong Lokpal Bill till he died.
The anti-corruption movement is to wake the ‘maliks’ up, said Anna Hazare. “The people are the maliks. We have to wake up so that the government cannot do more injustice, cannot steal our money anymore. This can only be achieved if the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed.”
He added, “Who is the government? The people, the masses are the government. All the ones we vote for are the ‘sewaks’. The sewaks have to inform us where they spend their money.”
Anna Hazare also said that after reading Arvind Kejriwal‘s book Swaraj, one would realise that it is the government that has lost its focus and not the anti-corruption movement.
