Congress paid heavy price for going back on Janlokpal Bill: Anna Hazare

Ralegan Sidhi: Anna Hazare on Monday accused the Centre of 'betrayal' and going back on its promise on Janlokpal Bill and said he will sit on an indefinite hunger strike here from Tuesday for passage of the anti-graft law in Parliament.

Hazare said one of the major reasons for the drubbing the Congress got in the just-concluded elections to four states was its failure to get the Janlokpal Bill passed.

"Congress betrayed the people who responded appropriately," he told reporters here.

Hazare said when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can pledge to get the communal violence bill passed in Parliament, why can't he do the same for the much-delayed anti-graft law.

Recalling his earlier hunger fast in Delhi, Hazare said, "Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter saying that Government is ready to bring Janlokpal Bill and said please end your fast. I trusted her and I ended my fast." "I didn't know that this UPA government will betray the public and me," he said.

"The Government has given a written word but it has not been adhered to till Monday, although two years have gone by," Hazare said.

The anti-graft crusader said when people came out on the streets and the hunger strike was underway, the Janlokpal Bill was passed in one day in Lok Sabha.

After that, the bill went to the Standing Committee, then to the Rajya Sabha and to a Select Committee, he said.

"This bill came to Rajya Sabha after being passed everywhere and only discussions on it were left. It has now been over a year and the bill is just lying in the Rajya Sabha and there are 71 Congress MPs there. The bill is still stuck there," he said.

Hazare said he got several letters from the Government that the bill will be brought in the winter session of Parliament in 2012. Later, he got another communication, saying the bill will come in the Budget session and then a promise was made that it will figure in the Monsoon session. "The Monsoon session has also gone by. And that is why, we are left with no other option. That is why from tomorrow I will fast at Ralegan Sidhi," he said.

Hazare said his fast will continue till the Janlokpal Bill is passed by Parliament.

"Our fight will continue for the right to reject, right to recall and for the creation of a corruption-free India," he said.

"People have vented their anger against the Congress in the assembly elections to four states," he said, adding Government must remember that it is their responsibility to pass laws for which people have sent them to Parliament.