Anna Hazare moves for Odisha to garner support for Jan Lokpal Bill

Veteran Gandhian activist Anna Hazare will visit Odisha for three days, starting from today in order to garner fresh nationawide support for Jan Lokpal Bill.

“He (Anna Hazare) would be given a grand welcome here,” IAC’s national core committee member Akshay Kumar said.

He said Hazare would be escorted from the airport to the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar by a motorcycle procession.

Hazare is scheduled to address farmers Saturday in the coastal town of Jagatsinghpur, about 100 km from Bhubaneshwar.

He is also scheduled to interact with students of a private engineering college in Bhubaneswar, Akshay Kumar said.

Earlier this month, Hazare came back to national politics after a brief hibernation after his split with Arvind Kejriwal. He formed a new Team Anna and vowed to start whole movement with a fresh energy.

“If the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed before the 2014 elections, we will hold another rally at Ramlila Maidan”, Hazare was recently quoted saying.

“Our fight for Jan Lokpal Bill will continue till it is passed by the government. I will campaign throughout the country and try to raise the conscience of the people. I will try to bring in change,” he said.

“The time has come to reach out to every house in the country and spread the message of anti-corruption. We have to work for a corruption-free India,” he said.

“Gandhiji said that to change the country we must first change our villages. That will lead to development. If people could be changed with money, then Tatas and Birlas would have done it,” he said.

(With inputs from IANS)