No need for Anna to go on fast: Farooq Abdullah

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Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said there was no need for Anna Hazare to go on fast to press for the passage of the Lokpal Bill as the legislation was likely to be passed in the ongoing session of Parliment next month.

"There is no need (for Anna to go on fast once again). The government is keen on passing the legislation as early as possible," the NC chief told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

"I fully hope it (Lokpal Bill) will be passed in the resumed Budget session of Parliament begining April 24," he said.

The New and Renewable Energy Minister, however, added "the establishment of Lokayuktas should be left to the states only."

"As far as the main issue (passage of the Lokpal Bill) is concerned, all political parties will sit and decide on it," he said.

Anti-graft campaigner Hazare will sit on a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.

On the alleged Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam, Abdullah said "this is being inquired into".

At the function, the NC chief released a poetry book of Darakhshan Andrabi, President of Socialist Democratic Party (SDP). The book contains poems written during the last 15 years of turmoil in the state.