Mumbai:
Anna Hazare's core committee meets for the second day in Delhi today to plan the future course of action in their fight for a strong Lokpal.
The Gandhian activist has applied for permission to hold a hunger strike in Mumbai later this month. His team of activists say whether he is forced to fast depends on the government and the sort of Lokpal Bill that it delivers.
Anna, 74, had earlier said he would fast in Delhi at Ramlila Maidan for a week, but the cold weather in the capital has provoked a change in location.
The Mumbai police says it has received a letter from Team Anna requesting permission for a sit-in protest at Azad Maidan from December 27 to January 26.
"Keeping in mind the weather conditions in Delhi during that time, we have also applied for Mumbai's Azad Maidan. If weather would be fine in Delhi on that day, then the protest or celebrations will happen in Delhi," key Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told PTI on Wednesday.
Another key associate of Anna, Kiran Bedi later tweeted, "Maharashtra is Anna's karma bhoomi. Anna got several laws enacted by his fasts there. Lokpal awaits Anna now. Is it Mumbai's destiny?" Urging the corporate world in Mumbai to join the fast, she said in another tweet, "Corporate world in Mumbai now has an option of joining the movement. Support Anna, get the law and help shoot up Sensex. Yes We Can."
The need for an ombudsman agency - the Lokpal - to combat corruption among government servants has been the focus of Anna's India Against Corruption campaign this year. The PM called an all-party meeting last evening to discuss the final details of the Lokpal Bill. Though consensus has been reached among political parties on most features, how much control the Lokpal should have over the CBI remains a point of dispute.