RALEGAN SIDDHI: Kiran Bedi, a key member of the erstwhile Team Anna, will join social crusader Anna Hazare in his ongoing indefinite fast at Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday to press for passing of the Jan Lokpal bill in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session.
"I will join Anna in his fast from Saturday to share the responsibility; everyone else is welcome. This country needs a strong Lokpal bill. I have listened to my inner voice and feel I should sit with him. Anna is fighting for the bill for the last three years. We cannot let him sit alone on fast for the bill. It's time we got it," Bedi, who visited Ralegan Siddhi to meet Hazare, said.
"I have never observed a fast in my life be fore. I do not have stamina like Anna's, but I will be joining him. I consulted him and he has given his consent. Now we have to win this final battle. It appears that the government is not serious about the bill. The time has come that everyone in the country stages a big fight to bring the bill to arrest corruption," Bedi said
Bedi criticized the government for not including the Lokpal bill in the agenda of Rajya Sabha. "For the last one year, the bill has been in cold storage. The moment Anna started his fast on Tuesday, I heard that the V Narayanasamy from the Prime Minister's office had said that the government wanted to pass the Lokpal bill in the winter session. But it is still not on the Rajya Sabha's agenda. The bill cannot be discussed and passed if it is not on the agenda. The government is misleading people by not including it in the agenda," she said.
The opposition parties should press the government to hold discussions on the bill, Bedi added. "If required, the government should extend the Lok Sabha session by a day to discuss the bill and pass it so that Anna does not have to go on repeated fasts," Bedi said.
'Everybody has to answer their conscience'
On Arvind Kejriwal extending support to Anna's agitation, Kiran Bedi said, "I am not here to comment on anyone. Everybody has to answer their own conscience. At the moment, I am on the one-point agenda of passing of the Lokpal bill. This country wants the bill and Anna is fighting for it though at such age he should not take up such fasts. Anna is not alone. Every common citizen of the country is with him," she said.
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