Students to academics, the young and old, film stars to intellectuals – everyone has joined hands in support of Gandhian Anna Hazare, who is fasting in New Delhi for a stronger Lokpal bill.
Civil society organisations on Friday took out rallies, organised marches and relay hunger strikes in Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh to show solidarity with the reformer.
Senior citizens, intellectuals, college and school students, NGOs, academics and professionals came together to participate in huge rallies in Hyderabad.
Holding national flags and placards declaring their support to Anna Hazare, hundreds from different walks of life took part in a massive rally at Necklace Road on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake here.
"Gali gali mein shor hai, mera neta chor hai" and "Corruption down down!" were some of the slogans raised at the march.
At KBR Park, walkers took out a sient march in support of Anna Hazare.
"This country can fight corruption only through independent bodies with all the legal powers," said P. Mitra, an eminent physician.
The Youth for Better India organised a hunger strike at Indira Park. Prominent citizens, including Telugu film director Sekhar Kammula, joined the protest.
"The corrupt should be jailed as it is being done in other countries. This is the only way we can root out this menace from our society," he said.
Sekhar said those who are in power and afraid of a strict anti-graft legislation were opposing the demand for Jan Lok Pal Bill.
"Corruption has become an issue and Anna Hazare's fast has brought it into the national focus," he added.
Telugu television channels like TV9 and HMTV also organised rallies and meetings to support Anna Hazare.
Rallies supporting the Gandhian were also reported from Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad.