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'I will sit on a fast in jail'

Anna Hazare on Saturday said he will sit on an indefinite fast in jail if the police do not grant him permission for his proposed protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan for a strong Lokpal.

"I will sit on a fast in jail. Who can stop me from going on a fast in jail? Nobody can stop me in jail," he told reporters.

He was responding to a query on what he will do if the police denied him permission to hold his fast from December 27 if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in the winter session of Parliament.

'They would have taken me to Pune'

Team Anna has sought permission from Delhi police for a fast by Hazare from December 27 to June 5 at the Ramlila Maidan if the bill is not passed in the ongoing Parliament session.

He said he had sat on a fast in Delhi's Tihar Jail in August when the government did not give him permission to sit on a dharna in the capital.

"The plan was to do what they did with (yoga guru) Ramdev. They wanted to take me to airport after I was released from jail. An Air Force plane was ready at the Delhi airport. They would have taken me to Pune," he alleged.

'Protest not against Rahul Gandhi or the PM'

He said the government's plans got derailed when he refused to get out of jail without being given a site to protest.

Asked whether he was putting pressure on the government, Hazare said his protest was not against the government or the Congress.

"It is not against Rahul Gandhi or the prime minister," he added.

On Friday, Hazare had alleged that Rahul Gandhi might have intervened to reverse a Parliamentary Standing Committee decision to include Group C employees under the ambit of Lokpal.