Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra): Gandhian activist Anna Hazare began his indefinite fast today in his village Ralegan Siddhi demanding early passange of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.
A large number of supporters gathered in this village to express solidarity with Hazare.
Anna Hazare walked a distance of nearly three km with his supporters carrying the national tricolour before sitting on a stage to begin his indefinite hunger strike.
"We have been promised repeatedly that the bill will be passed. But it is more than a year and it has not been passed yet. The government has taken the people for a ride," Hazare told media persons.
He demanded that the bill must come up during the ongoing winter session of parliament, and said he would continue his hunger strike until the promised legislation is passed.
Hazare said there could have been several factors behind the outcome of the assembly elections in four states Sunday, and one of them was the non-passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
The 76-year-old former army driver said the "Congress has cheated the people" on this issue, and warned that if it continues to dilly-dally further, the voters will again vent their anger against the ruling party at the centre in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Hazare is sitting on hunger-strike near the Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district along with his supporters and some volunteers.
Here is a blow-by-blow account of Anna Hazare's indefnite fast Day 1:
