Anna to reach Delhi today, team gears up for fast

New Delhi: Activist Anna Hazare will arrive in Delhi on Tuesday to participate in the scheduled indefinite fast announced by his team from July 25 at Jantar Mantar, even though he will not be fasting due to ill health.

The team will be organising an indefinite fast at Delhi's Jantar Mantar Wednesday, the day when new president Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn-in. Arvind Kejriwal will be leading the agitation this time, Team Anna said.

"Anna Hazare will not fast as his health condition does not permit it, but he will share the stage with the others who are fasting," India Against Corruption (IAC) media coordinator Aswathi Muralidharan told IANS.

"He will arrive in Delhi at 2 pm on Tuesday," she said. A small rally will be escorting Anna Hazare from the airport, and the team has also been circulating text messages asking people to join the rally with their vehicles.

Meanwhile, with two days to go for the fast, volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC) here are gearing up for agitation against corruption.

"Hundreds of volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC) are involved in the preparations for the July 25 fast, we have divided ourselves into various teams like crowd management, sanitation, health, media and guest management team and Anshankari team,"

The team has got permission to fast at Jantar Mantar till Aug 8, the day the monsoon session of parliament is expected to begin.

"We have already received about 4,000 online registration from across the country, who are willing to fast with Arvind Kejirwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai," Muralidharan said. She also said that Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev has also been invited to join the rally.

"Thousands of people are expected to attend the agitation, we don't have any projection about the turnout. We can only say it would be huge as the fast will be at Jantar Mantar and more people can access. So the arrangements will be better than at the Ramlila agitation," she said.

"We are working on the arrangements like setting up toilets and VIP enclosures," she added.