Anna Hazare to begin indefinite fast for Jan Lokpal Bill today

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare would start another indefinite fast from today at his village here to press for Jan Lokpal Bill.

Hazare on Monday said that he will remain on fast until the anti-graft bill was not introduced.

"I will sit on an indefinite fast as we demand that the government should bring the public ombudsman bill (Jan Lokpal Bill) in the winter session of the parliament. As the country is suffering from corruption," Hazare said.

Hazare also said: "Congress has faced a defeat in all the four states in the assembly elections. There are several reasons behind it but the primary reason is that Congress has betrayed the people as the party had promised to bring the public ombudsman bill (Jan Lokpal Bill). Therefore, people have expressed their anger through their votes."

It was seen as a revolutionary anti-graft movement, which in 2011 not only drew tens of thousands of Indians united against corruption onto the streets, but also stopped parliamentary proceedings and dominated the headlines for days on end.

But 18 months on, India Against Corruption (IAC) - a popular movement led by a group of the country's prominent social activists - have split due to the decision by some members to move from activism into politics.

The IAC movement, launched in December 2010, marked the first time in India that both the poor and the middle classes were united against corruption in such large numbers.

Over the past year, India has been transfixed by a campaign led by Anna Hazare to force the government to create an ombudsman, which would prosecute corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

Hazare's initial hunger strike brought millions of sympathisers out on streets and forced the government into a series of humiliating U-turns.

But "Team Anna" had lost some steam. When Hazare launched his third hunger strike in Mumbai, just before the New Year, very few turned up and he had to call it off prematurely because he was ill.

The proposed bill envisages the setting up of a national anti-corruption watchdog to check financial mismanagement and corrupt practices that have deeply pervaded several democratic and civic institutions of India.