Ralegan Siddhi(Maha): Upping the ante in
the context of the cash-for-votes scam, Anna Hazare today made
a strange demand -- hang any MP or MLA found indulging in such
practice.
"If any candidate takes or gives money in Vidhan Sabha
or Parliament for asking questions or voting, such people
should be given severe punishment, in fact according to me,
they should be hanged," Hazare said, intensifying his
offensive against corruption.
Hazare made these remarks shortly after high-profile
politician Amar Singh was arrested and lodged in Tihar Jail
in a sensational twist in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.
The 74-year-old crusader against corruption said India
needed strong laws to punish the corrupt members of parliament
and legislative assemblies who are accepting bribes to ask
questions and to perform their duties in the house.
Hazare was talking to reporters at Padmavati temple at
Ralegan Siddhi, 50 kms away from Ahmednagar,
About the arrest of Singh and two others, Hazare said
it showed that some people with vested interests have entered
our "sacred temple of democracy."
"If central government investigates the matter honestly
, then it will give the real picture of the decay of values in
our political systems," he said, raising a question "who is
maligning the image of our parliament and parliamentary
democracy ?"
Hazare said he has no links with any political party or
orgnisation like RSS.
"Every one involved in the Jan Lokpal movement has a
spirit to make India corruption and problem free.
Hazare also claimed that on August 16--the day when he
was arrested in Delhi--the central government wanted to take
him to Ralegan Siddhi by plane after the court ordered his
release from Tihar jail in the evening in a bid to defuse the
crisis.
"But God gave an inspiration to stay in Tihar till I
got permission for fasting in Delhi for Jan Lokpal," he said,
adding that these plans for defusing the satyagraha based on
non-violence have created suspicions in the country about the
intentions of the government.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, September 06, 2011, 21:33