Team Anna to turn on the heat on UPA with yatra, fast

A day after Anna Hazare virtually gave a clean chit to the prime minister, Team Anna on Friday chalked out a campaign strategy for their indefinite fast, deciding to tour western Uttar Pradesh villages where they will "discuss in detail" corruption allegations against Manmohan Singh.

The 'Gram Sanvad Yatra', as it is called, will start from June 18 and end on July 12 and will be anchored by Team Anna member Manish Sisodia.

The yatra is aimed at drumming up support for its indefinite fast in New Delhi from July 25 against the United Progressive Alliance government for failing to pass a strong Lokpal Bill.

During the yatra, a Team Anna statement said, awareness would be raised on the corruption allegations against 15 cabinet ministers, including the prime minister.

'The charges against the prime minister on the coal scam, considered to be one of the biggest scams, will also be discussed in detail. Apart from the Cabinet ministers, irregularities of party supremos like Mulayam Singh, Mayawati and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders would also be discussed,' it said.

Team Anna's emphasis on Singh came a day after Hazare made a U-turn and gave a clean chit to Singh while alleging that there was a "certain remote control" which dictates decisions to him. Hazare said Singh is an honest person and there was no direct proof of his involvement in corruption.

Hazare had recently said that he had no faith in the prime minister and his associates had targeted him on alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks. Four days ago, he even said after going through the files prepared by his team on the coal scam, he has suspicion about Singh.

"I have seen the papers, I have suspicion, I have doubts. I had always thought that he was a clean prime minister but after reading the files... there is something wrong," Hazare had said on Monday.

The yatra will begin from June 18 at Rajghat after a homage to Mahatma Gandhi. The plan for the proposed tour was formulated during a meeting of social activists from 12 districts who met in Ghaziabad during the day, the release said.

'All the activists present at the meeting decided that they would themselves bear the expenses incurred during the yatra in their districts. A team of young street play performers from Delhi University would travel along with the yatra,' the statement said.

In the first phase from June 18 to 22, the team will travel to villages in Saharanpur via Bhagpat and Shamli districts. In the second phase, from June 25-29, villages around Meerut, Muzzafarnagar, Bijnor and Roorkee will be covered.

The third phase will be from July 2 to 6 and would cover villages in Noida, Bulandshahr and Aligarh. The last phase of the yatra would take place in Ghaziabad, Hapur, JP Nagar and Moradabad from July 8 to 12.