Mumbai:
Sharpening his attack on the Congress-led government at the Centre, Anna Hazare today said he would launch a massive people's movement once Lok Sabha elections were declared.
"I will tour the country and will be there at the Ramlila grounds once Lok Sabha elections are announced," he told a rally at the temple town of Shirdi, kicking off a statewide tour to drum up support for a strong Lokayukta Bill.
Mr Hazare accused Home Minister P Chidambaram of being responsible for the "conspiracy" to foil his Lokpal stir last year.
"I was produced before court saying peace would be disturbed. I refused bail. I said I am ready to go to jail. I went to Tihar jail," he said.
"A plane was ready at the Delhi airport. The plan was to bring me to Pune and then take me to Bhandardara," he said.
"When the Home Minister of a country plans such schemes, where will the country go? Had the Jan Lokpal been there, Chidambaram would have been in jail now," the anti-graft crusader said.
Those in the government don't want to bring back black money stashed away abroad because many of them have deposited them in the foreign banks there, the 75-year-old leader said.
"If you fight for your country and get jailed, it's a blessing," he said. "We will have to go to jail for the sake of our country. It is a matter of pride to go to jail for the country," he said.
Earlier, before leaving for Shirdi, Mr Hazare termed as a "gimmick" the recent visit of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to the drought-affected areas of Maharashtra.
"Photos of Rahul Gandhi visiting the drought-hit region were published in newspapers. Even after 65 years after Independence, we still don't have water. We will now have to see what steps he (Rahul) takes to provide water. Does he have the knowledge? He should do concrete work," he said.
The 35-day long state-wide tour, which ends on June 5, will be Hazare's first major assignment after the December 2011 agitation in Mumbai.
Anna Hazare will be in Mumbai on June 2 and will visit New Delhi on June 3 to take part in an agitation by yoga guru Ramdev at Jantar Mantar.
Mr Hazare will visit Jalna, Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, Parbhani, Nanded, Hingoli, Washim, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Bhandara, Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad districts during the campaign in Maharashtra.
He will interact with people on the need for a strong Lokayukta bill and corruption-related issues.