Team Anna calls off hunger strike, hints at entering politics
Hazare, 75, stared an indefinite hunger strike on Sunday while his two key aides, Arvind Kejriwal and Gopal Rai have been fasting for twice as long. Hazare called of the strike on Friday, after Kejriwal’s and Rai’s condition started deteriorating.
Team Anna’s strike was a campaign for an independent watchdog that will have the power to prosecute Indian politicians as well as civil servants suspected of corruption.
Social activist, Hazare started his first hunger strike on August 16, 2011 to persuade the Indian government to introduce and enact a Jan Lokpal Bill in place of the government's own proposed Lokpal Bill
The bill was introduced in the parliament after Hazare and team’s 12-day hunger strike garnered nationwide support forcing the UPA government to take some action to bring an end to the deep-rooted corruption in India.
The so-called Jan Lokpal bill was passed by the Lok Sabha – India’s lower house of parliament but the Rajya Sabha (upper house) adjourned in December without passing the controversial legislation.
In December, team Anna started another fast but ended it with a view to starting a civil disobedience campaign.
India Against Corruption (IAC), the movement formed to bring reforms of anti-corruption systems in India and the enactment of the bill, has started a poll asking its followers to suggest a name for Anna’s political party.
