Ralegan Siddhi gram sabha orders 14 to quit fast

The gram sabha of Anna Hazare’s village, Ralegan Siddhi, directed 14 villagers who were sitting on an indefinite hunger strike to withdraw their fast on Thursday evening. The 14 villagers led by the village sarpanch, Jaisingh Mapari, were fasting for the last four days.

Takharam Raut, a close aide of Anna Hazare and trustee of Hazare’s Hind Swaraj Trust, said the villagers were happy that prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh had saluted their mentor in parliament.

“We are happy that the PM saluted the single minded determination of Anna and complimented his fighting spirit. We are also happy that former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh met Anna with a special message from the PM. We are hoping that the government agrees to the three main demands made by Anna, so that Anna can give up his fast at the earliest,’’ Raut said.

Raut said the villagers will conduct their routine prabhat pheri (morning walk) on Friday at 8am. “We will wait to see what happens in New Delhi before we plan our next move. Only when we see Anna actually breaking his fast, will we celebrate his victory,’’ Raut said.

According to Raut, the villagers do not plan to go overboard with the celebrations as Hazare had advised them to carry on with the agitation till the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed in Parliament.