The first day of Anna Hazare’s three-day fast at MMRDA grounds in Bandra on Tuesday saw a much lower turnout than expected by the outfit India Against Corruption (IAC).
Unmindful of his fever, Mr Hazare started his fast even after being urged by his team to end it, saying that he is “ready to die for the country”.
The day started on a bitter note for Mr Hazare as around two dozen people showed him black flags and raised slogans against him at a traffic signal in Bandra. The security personnel quickly got the protesters out of his way.
As Mr Hazare reached the fasting venue, his supporters cheered. However, the response at was lukewarm, a dampener after the amount of pre-fast hype. While the sitting capacity of the ground is 35,000 to 40,000, the estimated turnout was barely 3,000 to 5,000 through the day. The actual presence at any given time was around 3,500 to 4,000.
Activist Medha Patkar, who spoke on the dais, appealed to the people to turn up in greater numbers. She opined that more people would turn up after office hours but, by Tuesday night, that had not happened. Ms Bedi also asked people to come along with their families. “There were not more than 3,000 to 3,500 people present at the ground at any given point of time,” said Mumbai deputy commissioner of police Mirza Baig.
IAC volunteers stated that 16,000 people had registered themselves till Tuesday evening.
Mr Hazare started his rally in the heat accompanied by team member Kiran Bedi. Sitting atop an open truck, Mr Hazare raised slogans such as “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, to which the crowds on the roads responded enthusiastically.
During his half-hour speech at the venue, Mr Hazare targeted the government for “cheating” and also took potshots, saying, “Khazane ko chor se nahin, paheredaro se dar hai (The treasure fears the guards, not the thieves)” and appealing: “Government ka naak dabana chahiye jab tak mooh nahin khulta. (The government should be held by the nose till it opens its mouth for air).”