By IANS,
Bangalore : Former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde Thursday urged Anna Hazare to end his fast but continue the agitation for the Jan Lokpal bill. Meanwhile, 14 people, including two women, have been fasting in Bangalore since Aug 16 in solidarity with the social activist.
“I hope and am confident that Hazare will end his fast as his health is of utmost concern to us and his leadership is needed,” Hegde, a member of Team Anna that was part of the joint Lokpal bill draft committee, said addressing hundreds of people at Freedom Park here.
The 14 were among the around 40 people who began fast at Freedom Park on Aug 16, the day Hazare launched his indefinite hunger strike seeking immediate passing of Jan Lokpal bill by parliament.
The rest of the 26 were told to end fast in the last few days on doctors’ advice, Anand Yadwad of India Against Corruption (IAC) movement told IANS.
“The health of all the 14 is fine. There is no issue in this regard,” Yadwad said.
Everyday for the last nine days around 30 people join these 14 and observe day long fast, he said.
On the tenth day of the fast one more batch of 30 people observed a day-long fast at the Park, Yadwad said.
Hegde, who has been taking part in the rallies at the Park since Aug 16, told the gathering that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too has appealed to Hazare to give up his fast.
“I urged Hazare yesterday (Wednesday) itself to give up fast but continue the agitation. I repeat my appeal to him,” he said.
Since Aug 16, Karnataka has been seeing daily rallies in Bangalore and in the main towns of all the 30 districts in support of Hazare. Hundreds of students have been staying away from schools and colleges to take part in these rallies.
In the tech hub Bangalore, software professionals have also been frequently participating in meetings at the Freedom Park.
On Wednesday hundreds of techies organised a 17-km long human chain on the main road in east Bangalore where a number of IT firms are located.