Anna Hazare has ended his fast in Ralegan Siddhi, Ahmednagar after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured him that his demands would be met.
The 81-year-old social activist was on an indefinite fast since January 30 over his demands for the formation of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the states.
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Fadnavis met Anna Hazare at his native place Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district on Tuesday afternoon and held talks with him. He also requested Hazare to call off the fast, said the sources.
The CM was accompanied by Union ministers Radha Mohan Singh and Subhash Bhamre and Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan.
“We have decided that the Lokpal search committee will meet on February 13 and the directions of the Supreme Court will be followed. A joint drafting committee has been set up, it will prepare a new bill and we will introduce it in next session,” said the CM after the meeting.
Anna Hazare, a vociferous propagator of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal, began an indefinite fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra for the formation of Lokpal (at Centre) and Lokayuktas (in the states).
Hazare has lost around 4.30 kg weight since he started the fast, doctors said.
Hazare, whose indefinite hunger strike entered the seventh day on Tuesday, had on Monday said that if the Narendra Modi government did not fulfill its promises, he would return his Padma Bhushan.
He also said that he was “used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)” to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“Yes. The BJP used me in 2014. Everybody knows that it was my agitation for Lokpal that catapulted the BJP and also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to power. Now I have lost all regards for them,” Hazare told the media at Ralegan Siddhi village.