Anna in Delhi, may end his vow of silence

New Delhi: Anna Hazare, who has not spoken a word in about three weeks, is expected to end his vow of silence on Friday. Mr Hazare reached Delhi on Thursday night from his village Ralegan Siddhi. He is expected to participate in the parliamentary panel meeting which is holding public hearings on the Lokpal Bill.

The anti-corruption crusader began his "maun vrat" on October 16 at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra for 'atma shanti' (peace of soul). Since then, he communicated by writing notes. The personal physician of the 74-year-old had expressed concern that though Mr Hazare has not been speaking, he continuously thinks and this has resulted in stress, leading to an increase in blood pressure.

The Gandhian has had a lot to think about. In recent days, his core team has been in some disarray. He has also written to the Prime Minister to warn that he will begin another round of campaigning against corruption if the government does not pass the Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament. "I will begin my hunger strike agitation on the last day of the Session if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed in the House and the team will tour various states to educate people about the issue," Mr Hazare said in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Criticism for his close aides for singling out the Congress and campaigning against it in the recent Hisar by-election also seems to have been on Anna's mind. He wrote to the PM saying that when he, along with his team, would visit states headed for election, they would campaign against corrupt parties, but would not target any one political party.

On Thursday, Team Anna once again stood before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and Law and Justice to present its views on anti-corruption measures that it believes the Lokpal Bill should include.

After the meeting, Team Anna member and eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "We had a good and positive meeting. We explained the amendments that we are seeking to make the bill aligned to Jan Lokpal bill, like the Uttarakhand Bill. There will be a questions-answer session tomorrow."

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the Chairman of the committee, said, "The progress has been satisfactory and we now hope to go on to the next stage of deliberation."

This was Team Anna's second appearance before the committee and the first after Mr Hazare undertook a 13-day fast in August demanding that the Jan Lokpal Bill be passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Soon after the Lokpal Bill was referred to the committee, Mr Hazare and his associates had deposed before the panel saying it should ask the government to withdraw the Lokpal Bill in its present form as it would "encourage corruption".

The Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by Team Anna was referred to the committee by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT); the Government's Lokpal Bill introduced in Lok Sabha in August was referred to the panel on August 8 this year.

(With PTI inputs)