Anna, Ramdev to sit on fast at Jantar Mantar today

In their first joint appearance on a public platform in the past one year, Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast here on Sunday in a bid to intensify their anti-UPA protests.

Sunday’s protest at Jantar Mantar is also likely to see Ramdev announcing his strategy with regard to the 2014 general elections. The one-day fast to demand bringing back black money stashed away abroad and against corruption and the corrupt system will have its echo in the state capitals as well with Ramdev’s Bharat Swabhiman Andolan organising protests across the country.

Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai are expected to join Hazare and Ramdev in the fast.

 

It is also keenly watched whether retired Army chief General V K Singh, who had locked horns with the government on various issues, would attend the protest.

The association with Ramdev had in the past created ripples within Team Anna, with a section remaining opposed to having any truck with the yoga guru, as he is facing corruption charges.

Ahead of the fast, both Hazare and Ramdev have stepped up their attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Hazare had said that Singh has lost faith in government, while Ramdev alleged that the Prime Minister was not “politically honest”.

Before sitting on fast, both the activists will go to Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, to pay tribut to the ‘Father of the nation’.

A senior police officer said they had made elaborate security arrangements. Besides Delhi Police personnel, 20 companies of paramilitary forces will be deployed in the area.