Amdavadis rejoice at Anna’s victory

It seems the whole of Ahmedabad was overjoyed when Anna Hazare, having achieved many positive results, ended his hunger strike in the morning on Sunday.

Thousands of Amdavadis came out on the roads on Sunday to celebrate his victory. The mood in the whole city was celebratory as people took out rallies, fired crackers and shouted slogans praising Hazare and his campaign.

The mood at the Town Hall in the city, which had become an unofficial 'headquarters' of the pro-Anna agitation, was also buoyant. It was at the Town Hall that Chandrakant Barot had gone on hunger strike along with Anna Hazare.

Barot, who had to be shifted to the VS hospital when his condition deteriorated, said he got himself discharged from the hospital on Saturday when he learnt that Hazare would end his fast the next day.

He had then returned to the Town Hall to join the other activists in their celebration.

Another dedicated volunteer, Sanjay Joshi, used to stay at the Town Hall and spent the whole day without food in support of the movement. He ate only when he went home at night.

Joshi told DNA on Sunday that in the morning that day, they had taken our two rallies - one from Kankaria football ground and the other from Prahladnagar garden - and both the rallies had ended at the Town Hall.

"Acharya Maharajs (officials) from Swaminarayan Kumkum Mandir, Maninagar, had also come to the Town Hall and conducted Barot's Paarna (ending of fast) by giving him lemon juice," Joshi said. Barot's health is still frail and has to take only liquid for some days until his health returns to normal.

Meanwhile, members of UVA Azadi, who had turned the Income-Tax crossroads in the city as the 'headquarters' of their agitation in support of Hazare, had also made elaborate arrangements to celebrate his victory.

Dr Hemang Shah, one of the coordinators of UVA Azadi, said they had taken out a huge rally of four-wheelers and two-wheelers and a truck with an audio system playing patriotic songs. A huge crowd comprising young and old people, as well as women and children, participated in the rally, Shah said.

Kruti Panchani, a college student, said they were happy that, finally, the Centre had heard their voice. "I and my college friends have not attended college for the last 12-15 days. We were constantly present at the dharna in support of Anna," Panchani said.

While activists supporting Anna had every reason to celebrate, the rest of the city was not to be left behind in celebrating the event. The staff of Rajwadu (restaurant) fired crackers and organized puppet shows.

"We had a live jalebi show and distributed the sweets to all to celebrate the victory. All staff came out on the road and shouted slogans in support of Anna," said Manish Patel, owner of Rajwadu.