Anna Hazare rejects new Lokpal Bill draft

Activist Anna Hazare Thursday rejected the new draft of the Lokpal Bill with amendments proposed by the central government and announced that he would continue his fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"The proposed new draft of the Lokpal Bill is useless. We will continue our fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill and force the government to pass it," Hazare told reporters here.

Hazare added that the proposed bill would not help fight corruption. "Such a bill will not benefit the people," he said.

He said his campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill would intensify in coming months. "I will visit people in towns and villages across the country in coming months to awaken their conscience," the septuagenarian said.

He downplayed a question about corruption in Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

However, on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being projected as the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Hazare said that Modi was not keen on making his state free of corruption.

"Why not Modi appointed Lokaykta in Gujarat and why he failed to make Gujarat a corruption free state? It appears that Modi is not willing to make India a corruption free country if he becomes the prime minister," he said.

On Wednesday, Hazare announced that he would form a Jantantra Morcha to fight for people's rights.

Hazare, who arrived here Tuesday, said the Morcha would also work for eradicating corruption.