At least 10 villagers from Anna Hazare's village, Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, 75km north of Pune, went on an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday to lend support to their mentor as he entered the eighth day of his fast at New Delhi.
Led by sarpanch Jaisingh Mapari, the 10 villagers are fasting in the village square opposite the Sant Yadavbaba temple, their patron saint.
And on Wednesday, hundreds of villagers have decided to join these 10 protesters.
Schoolteacher Subhash Pathare at Sant Nilobari Vidyalaya in the village said: “On Tuesday, at least 1,000 factory workers from Ranjangaon industrial estate on the Ahmednagar-Pune Highway rode to Ralegan Siddhi village on motorcycles to display their solidarity for the nationwide anti-corruption crusade and Hazare.”
The villagers have planned to stop work at the Parner tehsil office on Wednesday.
Every day, Hazare’s village undertake unique protests in support of Hazare. On Monday, at least 205 villagers had donated blood to the Chakan Blood Bank.
The village youth also celebrated Gokulashtami differently on Monday.
They broke an earthen pot, which contained curds and copies of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Every evening, they hold bhajans and kirtans at the village temple and walk through the village shouting slogans against the government.
They have decided to continue the relay hunger strike and protest rallies every day until Hazare ends his campaign against corruption.
On August 18 morning, all residents of Ralegan Siddhi did not have a bath and walked to the village square with empty buckets and mugs to participate in their unique protest - a “balti morcha” (bucket rally).
They were protesting against the alleged refusal of Tihar jail authorities to provide bath facilities to their 74-year-old mentor and preventing him access to newspapers and television.
“The villagers were upset with the news of Anna not being provided basic amenities in Tihar jail and decided to protest in this unique manner,” said Sakharam Raut, a resident of Ralegan Siddhi, at the balti morcha.
