<p>"As the doctors have advised Anna Hazare to take rest for a week due to osteoarthritis, he will not be participating in the rallies scheduled in Varanasi, Sultanpur and Lucknow," spokesperson Vibhav told PTI over phone.<br /><br />He, however, said Hazare would address the meetings over phone.<br /><br />Personal assistant of the social activist Suresh Pathare also confirmed Hazare's absence from the rallies and refuted reports that he will travel from Pune to Delhi to attend a meeting of Jan Lokpal Bill committee on May 2.<br /><br />As per earlier schedule, the anti-corruption crusader was planned to address rallies in Varanasi (April 29) and Sultanpur (April 30) and Lucknow (May 1).<br /><br />Vibhav, however, said Hazare's absence would not affect the schedule of rallies and his associates Arvind Kejariwal, Swami Agnivesh, P D Rajgopal, Kumar Vishwas, Prakash Singh and Jaspal Bhatti would attend the programme.</p>
<p>"As the doctors have advised Anna Hazare to take rest for a week due to osteoarthritis, he will not be participating in the rallies scheduled in Varanasi, Sultanpur and Lucknow," spokesperson Vibhav told PTI over phone.<br /><br />He, however, said Hazare would address the meetings over phone.<br /><br />Personal assistant of the social activist Suresh Pathare also confirmed Hazare's absence from the rallies and refuted reports that he will travel from Pune to Delhi to attend a meeting of Jan Lokpal Bill committee on May 2.<br /><br />As per earlier schedule, the anti-corruption crusader was planned to address rallies in Varanasi (April 29) and Sultanpur (April 30) and Lucknow (May 1).<br /><br />Vibhav, however, said Hazare's absence would not affect the schedule of rallies and his associates Arvind Kejariwal, Swami Agnivesh, P D Rajgopal, Kumar Vishwas, Prakash Singh and Jaspal Bhatti would attend the programme.</p>