Former IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi having a word with Anna Hazare during the second day of his indefinite hunger strike for Jan Lokpal Bill at his village in Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra on Wednesday
Activist Anna Hazare has lost 1.6 kgs since he began his hunger strike on Tuesday to pressure the government into clearing the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill in this session of Parliament, scheduled to end on December 20.
Doctors say Anna's blood pressure and other vital parameters are normal.
The 76-year-old is fasting near a temple in his village of Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra. He says he will not eat till Parliament approves the law that would create a national ombudsman or "Lokpal" empowered to investigate corruption cases involving elected representatives and bureaucrats.
The government has said it will introduce the Lokpal Bill for discussion in the Rajya Sabha today, and try to push it through the Lok Sabha by Monday evening.
(Read) The move is politically expedient. Brand-new Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made an incredulous debut in the Delhi elections, winning 40% of the city's seats because it promised clean and honest governance.
Its founder, 44-year-old
Arvind Kejriwal, was Anna's main lieutenant in a huge pro-Lokpal movement in 2011, which drew middle-class support before dissipating.
Mr Kejriwal's AAP is largely responsible for relegating the Congress to third place in Delhi, a city it had governed for 15 years.
In August 2011, Anna fasted for 16-days in Delhi in support of the Lokpal Bill, forcing political parties to break into a sweat. They vowed to urgently discuss and pass the proposed legislation if he ended his hunger strike. Though the Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha, it failed in the Rajya Sabha.
A parliamentary committee that studied it has unanimously recommended some changes. The opposition wants this amended version to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha today.