By IANS,
New Delhi : From Tihar at 11 a.m. to the Delhi Police commissioner’s residence at 11 p.m. It took 12 hours of continuous meetings to negotiate the final settlement to allow Gandhian activist Anna Hazare to hold his fast for a more effective law at the Ramlila ground here.
As crowds swelled in various places across the country, including the Tihar Jail, police officials, home ministry representatives and members of Anna Hazare’s team held several rounds of meetings Wednesday, police sources said.
“The meetings were led by Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dharmendra Kumar, along with representative of the home ministry. Kumar visited Tihar twice to hold negotiations with team members of Anna Hazare,” a police official told IANS.
“There were several rounds of negotiations. Finally, it ended at police chief B.K. Gupta’s residence at 11 p.m. After that, members of Team Anna went to Tihar to inform Hazare of the latest happenings. Only after he agreed was the announcement made,” the official added.
Hazare, who had refused to come out of Tihar until he was allowed to conduct his protest fast for a more effective anti-corruption law without any conditions, will move to the Ramlila ground in central Delhi Thursday afternoon. The activists have been allowed to be in the ground for 15 days.
“We have been given the Ramlila ground for 15 days, and have also been assured by the Delhi Police that if we need the ground for more days, we can stay there,” Hazare’s aide Arvind Kejriwal said.
“The conditions imposed on us earlier have also been withdrawn,” he added.
According to an official of the Tihar jail, Hazare will leave the jail around 3 p.m. Thursday after a medical check-up. He will then head towards the Ramlila ground.
Hazare, 74, had planned to begin his fast for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal bill from the J.P. Park in the ITO area Tuesday. However, Delhi Police imposed certain conditions before allowing the protest. Hazare refused to sign the undertaking, following which the police detained him and his other team members Tuesday.
He was arrested and subsequently released but refused to leave the jail until allowed to carry on the protest without any conditions.