Punjab's turn as Team Anna campaigns in poll states
From Tuesday, Team Anna members will be in Punjab as part of their visit to poll-bound states where they plan to highlight the need for a strong Lokpal bill - and not speak for or against any party.
"Team Anna will not campaign for and against any party. We will educate people on our version of the Lokpal bill and urge them to bring a change in society by casting their ballot in favour of the right candidate,” Team Anna member Manish Sisodia told IANS.
Under the banner of India Against Corruption, they kicked off their tour of poll-bound states, starting from Haridwar in Uttarakhand Jan 21. While they have visited Dehradun, Rudrapur, Haldwani, Paniyali and Srinagar till Dec 24, the second phase of their campaign in Uttarakhand will tentatively resume Jan 27 in Kotdwar and end in Almora and Ranikhet Dec 28.
IAC members like Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Das, Kumar Vishwas and Sisodia toured the state in the first phase, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan also made an appearance but left for Delhi after sometime.
The team visits Punjab from Tuesday, coinciding with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's visit to the state. "The members who will campaign in Punjab are Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia, Kumar Vishwas and Gopal Das. Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi are also likely to come,” said IAC media coordinator Aswathi Muralidharan said.
While Tuesday they will visit Amritsar and Jalandhar, the last leg of their campaign in Punjab will be in Phagwada, Navanshahr and Ludhiana Wednesday. Five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab are going to polls from Jan 28 to March 3.
But Team Anna will not visit poll-bound Manipur due to time constraints. The Goa visit is expected later this month. "We are not going to campaign in Manipur due to time constraints. It could not be worked out in the itinerary. If we had more time, we would have surely gone,” Sisodia said. Their campaign for Uttar Pradesh - the most populous and crucial state going to the polls - has not been finalised yet.
"We're yet to decide on the members who will campaign there,” said an IAC member.
