Anna Hazare to stage satyagraha for farmers in Delhi

Social Activist Anna Hazare has confirmed that he will begin satyagrah on March 23 in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.

"The satyagarha will start from March 23 and there will be no set timeframe to end it. It will continue till life is in my body," Hazare said.

The Gandhian also complained that the government has still not allotted space for holding the satyagraha. He threatened to start the satyagraha from jail if space is not allotted before March 23.

"We have written 16 times to the government in the last four months to allot the place for satyagraha but till date it has not been allotted. Four days before, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said 'your government is deliberately not allotting the place and if it is not allotted then I will start satyagraha from jail," Hazare said.

While addressing a 'Rashtriya Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, in December, he said that he had written a number of letters to the centre, but they remained unaddressed. 

Alleging the Centre for weakening the anti-corruption Lokpal Act, Hazare said that it has encouraged corruption in the country.

"Today the farmer of this country is in a poor shape. The Centre is responsible for the suicides committed by the farmer. It is yet to implement the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission. I have written a number of letters to the Centre, but nothing happened".

Hazare said, "we have not achieved democracy which we had desired. Farmers are committing suicide but the government was ignoring plight of them", adding that Lokpal act, passed in 2013 but even after five years it has not been enforced. The intention of the government was doubtful as the act was pending for long.

Meanwhile, several thousands of farmers, men, women and youth, parked themselves under the scorching sun at the historic Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, around three km from the legislature where the budget session is currently on.

The gruelling 200 km, six-day long 'Long March' undertaken by over 35,000 farmers ended on a positive note, with the Maharashtra government conceding most demands March 12 evening.

The farmers, tribals and labourers, under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers wing of the Communist Party of India (M), had marched nearly 200 km since March 6 and reached Mumbai late on Sunday, and to Azad Maidan at dawn on Monday.

All political parties have supported the farmers' Long March, with Congress President Rahul Gandhi coming out in favour of the peasantry, terming it as "an unprecedented show of strength" and urged Modi and Fadnavis to shed their egos and concede the farmers' legitimate demands.