Ahmednagar: Extending his support to the "justful" cause of sugarcane growers in Maharashtra, social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday condemned the firing incident in Sangli district and accused the state government of turning this year's Diwali "black" for protesting farmers. Speaking from his native Ralegan Siddhi, Anna said the stand taken by MP and 'Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna' leader Raju Shetty was "justful" but said the farmers should stay away from violence or it will harm their movement.
"By firing on farmers, the government tried to supress their agitation...This will always be remembered as a 'Black Diwali'," he said. The Gandhian also flayed NCP President Sharad Pawar's remarks against Shetty and held him responsible for the present agrarian crisis.
A farmer was killed in police firing in Sangli on Monday after a group of peasants tried to lock a police team inside a hotel at Nandre village after learning that Shetty was detained in Pune district. Shetty was spearheading the agitation of farmers against refusal of cooperative sugar factories in Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur districts of western Maharashtra to give Rs 3,000 per ton as first advance on sugarcane purchase this season.
Factories have agreed to pay Rs 2,300 per ton. His detention sparked largescale violence with protesting farmers torching two state transport buses and a police jeep in Pune district. Several buses were also damaged in the protests. Farmers had staged road blockades at various places in western Maharashtra as per the appeal made by the farmers'
12:59 PM, Nov 14, 2012
New Delhi: Anna Hazare will meet his new Core Committee in Ralegan Siddhi for two days from November 24 and has invited several eminent persons like former Army chief Gen VK Singh, activist Kiran Bedi said on Saturday. The new Core Committee will meet for the first time just as Arvind Kejriwal, who split with Anna Hazare on the question of going political, is set to announce the name of...
09:42 PM, Oct 20, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi: Veteran social crusader Anna Hazare will launch an 18 month nationwide tour for a citizens' movement against corruption from January 2013, an aide said on Thursday. "It was originally scheduled to kick off from Diwali. However, on account of Hazare's cataract operation last week, it had to be postponed by a couple of months," the aide, declining to be identified, said. The rescheduled tour will be taken up...
03:23 PM, Oct 18, 2012
New Delhi: Anna Hazare will be in Delhi on Sunday for the first time after his split with Arvind Kejriwal for a meeting with his supporters and activists to chalk out the future course of action. Hazare's meeting comes against the backdrop of his blog posting in which he put the blame for separation squarely on Kejriwal-led pro-party group. The meeting is likely to be attended by activists Medha Patkar,...
08:30 PM, Sep 29, 2012
New Delhi: Anna Hazare, in a meeting with his team members in Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday, expressed concern over the selection of candidates for an independent political party that was proposed by his team August 2 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Anna discussed the issue over the formation of the party with Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Dinesh Waghela, an India Against Corruption (IAC) release issued here said. The...
05:00 AM, Sep 09, 2012
Mumbai: Villagers of Ralegan Siddhi, the native village of social activist Anna Hazare, on Sunday observed a day-long hunger strike in support of the anti-corruption crusedar who is on an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in the national capital. "The villagers observed a day-long hunger strike in Anna's support," Hazare's aide Datta Awari told PTI over phone. The villagers also took out a 'mashal morcha' (torch rally) to support the...
06:45 PM, Jul 29, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi: Ahead of July 25 protest rally in Delhi, key Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday met Anna Hazare at his native village in Maharashtra's Ahmed Nagar district, sources said. "Kejriwal apprised Hazare about Team Anna's July 25 Delhi agitation. Hazare has also made some suggestions to him in this regard," Shyam Asawa, local spokesperson of Hazare's anti-corruption movement, told PTI. Kejriwal first came to Pune to meet...
07:44 AM, Jul 09, 2012
New Delhi: Anna Hazare has postponed a press conference he was to address on Monday morning saying he needed time to collect "more information", a day after Team Anna member Kiran Bedi advised his close aide to "fully brief" the activist on allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Today's Anna's press conference is postponed. Timing and date will (be) inform(ed) later. We are collecting information, for this we need more...
01:03 PM, Jun 11, 2012
Mumbai: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Wednesday called on the people to register for the next round of 'Jan Andolan' (agitation), which he said would be launched after the dates of Lok Sabha polls are announced. "Start writing letters to us about your participation in the Jan Andolan from tomorrow so that we will have a sense of it. We will prepare you," Hazare said, addressing a public meeting against...
11:00 PM, Jun 06, 2012
Pune: Social activist Anna Hazare would be shifted to a hospital in Gurgaon, near Delhi, on Sunday, his associates said on Saturday. Anna's aide Datta Awari said from his native village Ralegan Siddhi that Hazare would be leaving for Delhi on Sunday. "We are now planning an Ayurvedic treatment," he said, adding that Hazare would be admitted to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. Manish Sisodiya, a member of Hazare's core team,...
02:08 PM, Jan 28, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi: Spelling out that his next phase of agitation would be to achieve "power for the people", veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said time had come for the masses to enjoy the fruits of democracy. "Today power is concentrated in Mantralaya (secretariat)in Mumbai or in Delhi. There is a need for decentralisation of power," Hazare said after unfurling the tricolour at the Republic Day celebrations in his...
02:33 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Mumbai: Though Anna Hazare watched 'Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai' with much enthusiasm along with other people in his Ralegan Siddhi village Tuesday evening, it's said some villagers in the audience might have recorded footage of the film, raising fears of piracy. The social crusader had a ball watching Akshaye Khanna rough up corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in the film which still has three weeks to go for its release....
07:58 AM, Jan 26, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi: In remarks that could stoke a fresh controversy, anti-graft activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday evening said a person is left with no option other than going for a slap when his power of tolerance of corruption runs out. "When a man's power of tolerance runs out, then whoever is in front of you, if a slap is given, then the brain is put back in place. That is...
07:16 AM, Jan 25, 2012
Mumbai: A special screening of the Hindi flick 'Gali Gali Chor Hai' was held for anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare in his native village Ralegan Siddhi on Tuesday night in presence of the film's crew. "Anna saw the entire film which ended at around 10 pm and expressed satisfaction over it," Hazare's aide Datta Awari told PTI from Ralegan. "Anna agreed to watch the film despite ill health as it deals...
12:19 AM, Jan 25, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi: Team Anna has decided to tour the five poll-bound states, but will not campaign against any particular political party. Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan met Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi on Tuesday and said that they were never anti-Congress. Claiming that their anti-corruption movement is not targeted against any particular political party, Kejriwal said, "We were never anti-congress. There is not a single party which is clean and...
02:48 PM, Jan 10, 2012
Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra): In a surprise development, veteran social crusader Anna Hazare on Monday gave his nod to Ralegan Siddhi sarpanch (headman) Jaisingh Mapare to contest next month's Zilla Parishad (district council) elections on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket, an aide said. Mapare, who has always been an NCP activist, had broken all ties with the party during the past one year when he was actively involved in Hazare's anti-corruption...
07:14 PM, Jan 09, 2012
New Delhi: A day after anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare broke his fast at Mumbai's MMRDA grounds, he is heading back to his village Ralegan Siddhi on Thursday. On Wednesday evening Anna called off his fast and the jail bharo agitation call over health concerns, but promised to fight on and said his team's next move would be to focus on the five poll-bound states early in the new year. The...
09:48 AM, Dec 29, 2011
Mumbai: The pressure on Anna Hazare is growing to call off his protest fast but Editor-in-Chief of IBN Lokmat Nikhil Wagle, who met the anti-corruption activist in Mumbai, on Wednesday says people like Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia are putting pressure on Anna to continue with his fast. He says these people don't know him well and want him to continue with his fast despite his deteriorating health....
02:31 PM, Dec 28, 2011
Mumbai: The sprawling MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai, the venue for Anna Hazare's protest fast, wore a deserted look on Wednesday with only security personnel, journalists and a handful of Team Anna activists in attendance. The mercury in Mumbai touched a 10-year low of 11.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, driving away supporters from the venue. Similar weather conditions are likely to continue on Wednesday. Even the speeches delivered by activists did...
11:23 AM, Dec 28, 2011
New Delhi: This seems to be a weekend fraught with problems for Anna and his team as the anti-corruption crusader is brought down by a severe bout of cold and a case is filed against his team for allegedly insulting the tricolour. Ahead of his three-day fast in Ralegan Siddhi from December 27 to protest against a "weak" Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare has caught cold but his associates say it...
04:30 PM, Dec 24, 2011
