<p>Several prominent persons who had joined him during his four-day hunger-strike in support of his demand for a ‘Lokpal Bill’ have said that the campaign would be tainted if he did not take his words of praise back. <br /><br />Hazare had said on Sunday that politicians should emulate the developmental models under Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. His praise of Modi upset many activisits, particularly in Gujarat. Though he had clarified that he had only praised the development and not endorsed communal politics, the activisits want him to retract.<br /><br />Noted dancer Mallika Sarabhai, signatory to the Jan Lok Pal Bill, on Monday came down heavily on Hazare’s statement. She e-mailed Hazare urging him to retract it. Her mail said: “We are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Modi’s rural development. There has been little or no rural development in the state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard.”</p>
<p>Several prominent persons who had joined him during his four-day hunger-strike in support of his demand for a ‘Lokpal Bill’ have said that the campaign would be tainted if he did not take his words of praise back. <br /><br />Hazare had said on Sunday that politicians should emulate the developmental models under Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. His praise of Modi upset many activisits, particularly in Gujarat. Though he had clarified that he had only praised the development and not endorsed communal politics, the activisits want him to retract.<br /><br />Noted dancer Mallika Sarabhai, signatory to the Jan Lok Pal Bill, on Monday came down heavily on Hazare’s statement. She e-mailed Hazare urging him to retract it. Her mail said: “We are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Modi’s rural development. There has been little or no rural development in the state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard.”</p>
