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As massive demonstrations are held in Indian cities and towns in support of Team Anna's campaign against corruption, the movement's leader dares the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.

On a day when lakhs of Indians came out on the streets in cities and towns across the country in support of Anna Hazare?s campaign against corruption, the fasting Gandhian leader raised the stakes saying that the government must either pass the Jan Lokpal by 30 August ? or step down.

?The government has betrayed me at every step. Now, they have only one option ? either pass the Jan Lokpal Bill or go,? he told supporters at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday evening.

Anna reiterated his 30 August deadline for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill and said that if the bill wasn?t passed by then, ?we will do a big protest which everyone will remember.?

Mumbai took to the streets on Sunday in support of Anna Hazare. Shashank Parade / PTIHe noted that the Jan Lokpal Bill had been drawn up by five members of his team after wide consultations to secure people?s opinion.

He said he had warned the government that he would go on protest if the Jan Lokpal Bill wasn?t taken up for considseration, but that the government did not pay heed his warning. ?The government is not serious about fighting corruption. I warned them of protests, but they did not listen to me. That is why I have taken up this protest and will continue till the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed,? Anna said.

Also on Sunday, the government, forced on the defensive, appeared to have initiated back-channel negotiations with Team Anna. But the deadlock is no nearer a resolution, with Arvind Kejriwal, one of the core members of Team Anna, saying that a proposal informally put forward by the government had been rejected because it offered nothing new.

Waving a sheet of paper at the Ramlila Maidan, activist Kejriwal said the government had sent a proposal but that it had nothing new. None the demands put forward by Anna?s team had been met, he added.

?We have received a proposal from the government which is nothing but the Government?s Lokpal Bill. None of our demands has been included. There is no agreement between civil society and government,? he told Hazare?s supporters.

Kejriwal also dismissed media reports of an agreement reached between the civil society and the government. ?TV channels are reporting that there is an agreement. But the reports are wrong. There is no agreement,? he said.

Indore-based spiritual leader Baiyujji Maharaj, who held talks with Hazare in the morning, said no agreement had been reached between the two sides. ?It is true that no agreement has been achieved between the two sides,? he told a television channel when asked to comment on Kejriwal?s remarks.

As Anna?s fast entered the sixth day, people in many cities and towns across India staged massive demonstrations in support of his cause.

In Mumbai, thousands of people took out a march in a show of solidarity for the anti-corruption movement. Thousands of Mumbaikars sporting ?I am Anna Hazare? caps gathered from across the city at suburban Bandra and took out a march to Juhu, a distance of 4 km, amidst heavy police presence.

More support for Anna?s campaign came from the Hindi film industry. Bollywood actors Shreyas Talpade and Celina Jaitely met Hazare supporters gathered at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. ?The time has come for us to unite. It?s time to support Anna,? Celina said. Talpade asked politicians to shun corrupt practices. ?Don?t forget you are elected for the people, by the people and of the people,? he said.

In Delhi, thousands of people marched from India Gate to Ramlila Maidan, the venue of Anna Hazare?s fast. Team Anna members Swami Agnivesh and Kiran Bedi led the rally. People from neighbouring Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh too joined in the long march.

I agree with this statement. The govt. either shows its sincerity to pass Jan lokpal bill or quit. Whoever comes next may not pass Jan lokpal bill, but at least we will have a different PM. I am sure any PM is better than the current defunct PM.

History is repeating itself!! Long back during the fight for Independence similar sentiments were being reverberated in the air,like 'Simon go back' during the quit India movement.and today we seem to be saying the same things but only the Actors have changed. Yesterday it was the British, who ripped this country with their brand of politics and loot. Today it is our own representatives in the parliament. life has come full circle I guess!

"I am sure that Gursharanjee(Pm wife) still keeps a tight rein on the household budgets. But with due respect Sir, being prime minister is not about family budgets, it's about the national treasury which you have been empowered to preserve. A bank manager may well be of 'impeccable' personal integrity at home, but if he allows his clerks to loot the bank, then he clearly is failing in his primary responsibility at the workplace. Sadly, that's exactly what seems to have happened in the UPA cabinet, and your continual hand-wringing is now becoming a sign of impotence"

The prime minister, may be impeccable, but he is also become very hungry for the Prime Minister seat, so whatever, happens, he likes to keep his eyes shut, and continue to be insensitive. It is Day 7 of a old man at the age of 73 fasting, and millions supporting him, but, he goes on say, that India would take another 42 years to implement this Janlokpal bill.

Now that we have Mr.Anna Hazare and his `team' the President should forthwith dismiss the Union Government; promulgate an ordinance of Jan Lokpal Bill; appoint Mr.Anna Hazare the PM, his team as Cabinet Ministers; dissolve the parliament and other state legislatures; put all the MPs and MLAs in jail; dissolve the military and police which some see as corrupt and inefficient; and then rest in peace. The country will be in eternal bliss.

I never trusted Advani, but, today, after hearing Prime Minister at Calcutta, I can understand, he is helpless, hopeless and weak Prime Minister ever had.

He is too weak to lead India, too weak to fight against his party to bring in a strong lokpal bill, till he is at the helm of the affairs, we really gonna find it difficult to implement the Strong Janlokpal bill, I guess, it is the high time, Prime Minister vacates and vanishes, if he can not implement Janlokpal bill now.

We have slept, debated and discussed on this bill for the past 40 years without yielding any result...do you know why? Because politicians do not have the will to pass this bill which directly...

You are naive. At some point in life always chose between power and money....see why Ambani never fights an election. Jagan thought he can have his shit and eat it too......

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