Renowned social worker Anna Hazare’s fast over the immediate appointment of Lok Pal at the Centre and other demands entered third day on Friday, even senior NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar apologised to the Gandhian for an allegation made against the latter by his party’s spokesperson Nawab Malik.
A day after the NCP spokesperson alleged that Hazare was an “agent” of the Sangh Parivar, Pawar distanced the party from Malik’s demand. “The NCP has nothing to do with Malik’s remark. If the allegation has hurt Hazareji, I apologise to Anna for Malik in this regard,” the senior NCP leader said.
Hazare had said on Thursday that he had taken cognisance of Malik’s allegation linking him to the Sangh Parivar and that he was consulting his lawyers if he could file defamation case against the NCP spokesperson. Hazare had also refused to meet the NCP leaders on Thursday evening.
Alluding to Hazare’s displeasure over Malik’s allegation, Pawar – speaking to media persons at Ahmednagar – expressed his deep regret over Malik’s allegation against the Gandhian and said that the NCP had nothing to do with the spokesperson’s remark.
Eight one-year-old Hazare began his indefinite fast on Wednesday in his home village of Ralegan-Siddhi in Ahmednagar district of western Maharashtra to demand among other things the immediate appointment of Lok Pal at the Centre and Loksyutkas in various states. His other demands are the implementation of of the Swaminathan Commission’s report on farmers”, one-and-half times of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agriculture produce, total loan waiver for farmers and monthly pension of at least Rs 5000 to every farmer in the country.
The three-day-old fast has already begun to affect Hazare’s health. The doctors who examined Hazare on Friday said that his blood pressure and blood sugar levels had “significantly” increased. “There was a significant increase in Anna’s blood pressure and blood sugar level when I examined him this morning,” Dr Dhananjay Pote said.
In a related development, Hazare’s supporters staged a protest in front of the Ahmednagar district guardian minister’s office to press for the demands made by the noted activist.