Accusing both ruling and opposition parties of collecting unaccounted donations during elections, Anna Hazare on Friday announced that he would launch “Asli Azadi Abhiyan (Real Freedom Movement)” from Mumbai on August 9, on the anniversary of the Quit India Movement.
Addressing a lecture in memory of late sarvodaya leader Siddharaj Dhadda here, the social activist said consultation programmes will be held in nine major cities covering nearly 660 districts and two representatives each will be selected for the movement. Interested people, mainly youths, will be engaged in the movement during the consultation programmes to be held at nine cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, said Hazare, accompanied by Rajendra Singh, a Magsaysay Award winning water conservationist.
“Hame azadi toh mili 1947 mein, par nakli azadi mili (We got Independence in 1947, but it was a false freedom),” Hazare said, adding both the ruling and opposition parties exploited the people, grabbed their lands, indulged in corruption, violence and loot.
In the name of election funds, the parties are collecting huge unaccounted donations turning black money into white, and spending them in parts so that the Election Commission cannot object to it, he claimed.
Asli Azadi Abhiyan will put pressure on the government to have audit of election funds and black money given to both the ruling and opposition parties which are spending crores of rupees in Lok Sabha polls, he said.
The movement will also ask the government to form a separate institution like the Lokpal to contain this illegal flow of black money, Hazare said.
The movement will not be a momentary one as it will go on for next five to 15 years till its demand for “asli azadi” was met, he stressed.
“Satta ki naak dabane se moonh khulta hai (press the nose of the government to get its mouth opened),” he said.
–PTI