Hazare joins fast; Team attacks Ramdev

As Hazare stepped in with his fast on a Sunday, crowds swelled to 9,000 to 10,000 people at Jantar Mantar where he announced a "fast till we get Jan Lokpal Bill", ignoring appeals from his close aides and supporters not to sit on hunger strike.

Crowds poured into the venue throughout the day with activist Arvind Kejriwal, who is fasting for the fifth day, urging college students to bunk classes next week for the sake of the country while another member Kumar Vishwas coming out with a slogan "next week, for country's sake".

The day also saw Team Anna appearing to distance itself from Ramdev who shared dais with Modi, describing the BJP leader as a "murderer of humanity".

 

"We were never in agreement with Modi. We are not in agreement with Modi now also. Narendra Modi is a murderer of humanity. It is for Ramdev to clarify on the issue," Singh, who was conducting the proceedings at the Hazare fast venue here, told reporters.

Hazare and Ramdev had earlier announced that both their campaigns will support each other and the yoga guru had addressed the Team Anna protest on Friday.

In Ahmedabad, Ramdev gave a clean chit to Modi on corruption issues, saying, "He has not done anything wrong".

Hazare had last year courted controversy after praising Modi, remarks which were later clarified as commending his initiatives for rural development. A section in Team Anna is against association with Ramdev.

The 74-year-old activist reached Jantar Mantar here this morning to slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram' and 'Inquilab Zindabad'. (More)