To begin with, Hazare said, he will appeal to voters in Hisar Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana where bypolls are scheduled on October 13 not to vote for the Congress.
Putting the Congress on notice on the Lokpal issue, Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he will ask people to inflict a "comprehensive" defeat to the ruling party in the five election-bound states this year if the Centre fails to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
To begin with, Hazare said, he will appeal to voters in Hisar Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana where bypolls are scheduled on October 13 not to vote for the Congress candidate as the party was "deliberately" not bringing the Jan Lokpal bill.
"We are not going to tell the voters whom they should vote for. If the bill is not passed in the winter session, we will ask people to vote for any party except the Congress and choose a candidate who is clean and with a good character," Hazare told a press conference in Ralegan Siddhi, 50 km from Pune.
The Gandhian also announced that he would undertake a four-day fast in Lucknow, three days before the UP assembly polls commence.
Making it clear that his opposition to Congress was limited to the issue of Jan Lokpal Bill, Hazare, who was flanked by his key team-member Arvind Kejriwal, said that if the bill was passed, he still go ahead with his campaign asking people to elect people with integrity.
He said preparations were underway for his nation- wide tour, which is likely to start from October 15, and he had advised his team to arrange his rallies in constituencies, where Congress had won the last Assembly elections in UP.
Hazare, who had withdrawn his 12-day hunger strike in Ramlila Maidan on August 28 following assurances from the Centre that three of his main demands would be considered, made it clear that his agitation would be intensified across the country in the coming months.
Noting that the parliamentary standing committee was supposed to conclude its deliberations on the Lokpal Bill by October end, Hazare said, "if the bill is not passed in the winter session, it would amount to yet another betrayal of nation by Congress."
Describing the Hisar bypoll as the "first step" of his campaign, Hazare said, if Congress failed to give a written commitment to the passing of the bill, as other parties have done, before Dussehra, he would urge the electorate not to vote for Congress.
Hazare said he will try to visit Hisar in the coming days and if he cannot do so, he will send a video message appealing to people "not to vote for Congress as they are deliberately not bringing the Jan Lokpal Bill."
He said he has got letters from BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and others supporting Jan Lokpal Bill but none from the Congress.
The activist said he will wait for two more days for the letter from Congress and will start his campaign against them if the party fails to do so.
"We will oppose the Congress... They sent me to jail... Does it behove a government to attack innocents in Ramdev's camp in Ramlila Maidan?" he asked.
The Gandhian also sought a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the allegations being made against him in the 2-G spectrum case.
Hazare said that prime minister should come clear on his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation by facing the "agni pariksha (test by fire)". He said the PM should clear the air and demonstrate his accountability to the people of the country on the issue.
On the controversy over the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat, he said, once the Lokpal Bill is passed, it would become mandatory for all the state governments to set up a Lokayukta and the issue would be resolved.
Asked whether he would support a clean candidate from Congress even if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed in the Winter Session, Hazare said he will appeal to people to vote for candidates other than from Congress.
"What is the purpose of a clean candidate if the party is not right? Is Manmohan Singh not clean? The problem is that he is remote-controlled," he said.
On if he feared that he would be targeted as a BJP and RSS supporter, Hazare said those who raise such allegations should be sent to a mental hospital.
"In my whole life, not a single instance has shown that I had been associated with BJP or RSS. I have never attended a single meeting (of BJP or RSS)," he said.
Replying to a question, he said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's decision to jail IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was wrong. "Bhatt has submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court.
The matter is before the Supreme Court. Then what is the need for arresting him. This is wrong," Hazare said.
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