UP starting point for Anna yatra

Lucknow:

Three-day tour; Social activist to address people in Varanasi on April 29, followed by Sultanpur, Lucknow

Social activist Anna Hazare will begin his nation-wide campaign against corruption from UP next week by addressing public meetings in Varanasi, Sultanpur and Lucknow. He will also interact with people from different walks of life during his three-day visit beginning April 29.

His first destination is the holy city of Varanasi, then Sultanpur on April 30, and Lucknow on May 1. In the state capital, Anna Hazare will hold a public meeting at Jhule Lal Park. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and social activist Swami Agnivesh are likely to accompany him. “We chose Varanasi as the starting point for Anna’s nationwide tour because it is a sacred city and it suits his image,” said Neeraj, coordinator, India Against Corruption (IAC). He said IAC did not want to target any political party or individual in its fight against corruption because “corruption is everywhere’’.

Since UP is a big state, Neeraj said, Anna would stay here for three days.

“We will cover western UP in the second phase of campaign,” said Neeraj.

Hazare’s visit comes at a time when corruption and criminalisation of politics are hot issues in UP in the wake of murder of Chief Medical Officer B P Singh on April 2, within six months of the shooting of his predecessor V K Arya.

Investigation into the two murders led to uncovering of instances of corruption and fraud in Family Welfare and Health Departments, following which Family Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and Health Minister Anand Mishra had to resign. There have been allegations that politically well-connected criminals are behind the murders.

Opposition parties believe that Anna Hazare may not target Mayawati and her govenrment, but his presence in UP at this time will automatically draw the public attention to the recent murky events. Therefore, both the SP and Congress, which had urged Hazare to come to UP to take up the issue of corruption by the state government, are happy. The BJP has also extended support to Hazare’s campaign.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Mayawati looks jittery. Last week, she broke her long silence over Anna Hazare’s campaign by welcoming it, but she also accused him, the UPA government and the civil society for not including any Dalit in the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal bill.

Significantly, Mayawati made a reference to the murder of the two CMOs, and said her govenrment was determined to bring the guilty to the book, and end corruption and criminalisation of politics, but added that this may take time because both problems were very old. These were creations of the past govenrments, which her government had only inherited, she said.