Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra):
Upping the ante in the context of the cash-for-votes scam, Anna Hazare today made a strange demand - hang any MP or MLA found indulging in such practice.
"If any candidate takes or gives money in Vidhan Sabha or Parliament for asking questions or voting, such people should be given severe punishment, in fact according to me, they should be hanged," Hazare said, intensifying his offensive against corruption.
Hazare made these remarks shortly after high-profile politician Amar Singh was arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail in a sensational twist in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.
The 74-year-old crusader against corruption said India needed strong laws to punish the corrupt members of parliament and legislative assemblies who are accepting bribes to ask questions and to perform their duties in the house.
Hazare was talking to reporters at Padmavati temple at Ralegan Siddhi, 50 kilometres away from Ahmednagar.
About the arrest of Singh and two others, Hazare said it showed that some people with vested interests have entered our "sacred temple of democracy."
"If central government investigates the matter honestly, then it will give the real picture of the decay of values in our political systems," he said, raising a question "who is maligning the image of our parliament and parliamentary democracy?"
Hazare said he has no links with any political party or organisation like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"Everyone involved in the Jan Lokpal movement has a spirit to make India corruption and problem free."
Hazare also claimed that on August 16 - the day when he was arrested in Delhi - the central government wanted to take him to Ralegan Siddhi by plane after the court ordered his release from Tihar jail in the evening in a bid to defuse the crisis.
"But God gave me an inspiration to stay in Tihar till I got permission for fasting in Delhi for Jan Lokpal," he said, adding that these plans for defusing the satyagraha based on non-violence have created suspicions in the country about the intentions of the government.