By IANS,
Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra) : Reiterating that the Lokpal bill tabled in parliament Thursday is “weak”, social activist Anna Hazare said that it will not eradicate corruption and reissued his threat of a “jail bharo” agitation next week.
Speaking to reporters at his home village in Parner taluka (sub-district) of Ahmednagar district, he also repeated his threat to stage a sit-in and court arrest outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi.
Hazare said the poor in the country are the worst affected by corruption and that the bill tabled will in no way help eradicate corruption at the ground level.
He also questioned the government on the contentious issue of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asking: “Why is it afraid of bringing the investigating agency within the ambit of the Lokpal?”
Hazare earlier Thursday called the bill “useless”. “Unless you bring the CBI within the ambit of the Lokpal, it will serve no purpose,” he reiterated.
Stating that he would go on a three-day hunger strike from Dec 27-29 in Mumbai, Hazare renewed his threat of launching a “jail bharo” agitation.
“My ‘jail bharo’ protest will be outside the residence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Condemning the government, Hazare said it lacked the will power to curb rampant corruption in the country.
He urged the people not to vote for those who have opposed the Jan Lokpal bill. “The whole exercise of drafting the anti-graft bill was a useless effort,” Hazare said.