Indian Against Corruption (IAC), the movement led by activist Anna Hazare, has asked UP chief minister Mayawati to announce that Uttar Pradesh would be the first state to adopt the Lokpal Bill once it was passed by Parliament.
Talking to reporters here, Swami Agnivesh said that while he congratulated Ms Mayawati for her concern over the absence of a dalit member in the drafting committee, he now wanted her to make her contribution towards the campaign.
“We have been told that corruption has been institutionalised in UP. Can Ms Mayawati honestly say that she has curbed corruption in her regime?” he asked.
Well known satirist, Jaspal Bhatti, meanwhile, announced that if the Lokpal Bill was not passed due to any reason, he would seek permission to install a statue of “Corruption Baba” outside the secretariat in Lucknow.
“If anyone prays to Corruption Baba for 11 days and agrees to offer 11 per cent of his illegal earnings, then all his problems like raids and inquiries will be taken care of. The government should give the people right to scam if the bill is not passed,” he said in his inimitable style.
Swami Agnivesh further said that the campaign against corruption had got people’s ownership and Anna Hazare was a symbol.
RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal that IAC was taking out yatras across the country to make people aware of the movement.
“It is often said that the movement is restricted to the urban middle class but we want to make the poor uneducated people aware of this because it is they who bear maximum brunt of corruption,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal said that Anna Hazare would not participate in any yatra till May 15 on medical grounds. He hoped that the drafting committee meeting that is being held in Delhi on Monday would begin putting down concrete proposals on the eradication of corruption.