A pill for UPA, the day after Anna Hazare was arrested

A day after Anna Hazare was arrested by the Delhi Police, protesters hit the streets across the country in support of the anti-corruption crusader.

Condemning the UPA government’s action, sit-ins, rallies, relay fasts and candlelight vigils were held while some lawyers struck work and a couple of trains stopped briefly.

In New Delhi, which is the epicentre of the protests, thousands of Anna Hazare supporters thronged India Gate and Jantar Mantar with hundreds coming close to the Parliament House raising slogans in support of the Gandhian.

The movement seemed to have just one message for the government: “Enough is enough.”

Following the protests and Anna Hazare’s refusal to come out of the Tihar jail, the government climbed down on several issues and held negotiations with the Gandhian and his team.

In Tamil Nadu, thousands of central and state government employees silently observed fast in their work places, while attending their regular work — service rules do not allow them to take part in such protests.

TDP workers demonstrated across Andhra Pradesh against the police action, with the party chief N Chandrababu Naidu leading a dharna in Secunderabad.

In Jammu, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Jammu-Pathankote highway at Traro area in the district and took out a protest while in Leh, a day-long dharna and a protest march were held.

However, the protests in Karanataka threatened to take political hues, with the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat organising huge rallies in the coastal districts. Meanwhile Ramon Magsaysay award winner Mahasweta Devi joined the protests being held in Kolkata.