Team Anna tests Punjab waters

AMRITSAR: Team Anna arrived in the holy city on Tuesday to launch an anti-corruption campaign and to pursue people to cast their votes only after weighing the creditability of candidates and not to get swayed by populist promises. The core committee members of Team Anna initiated their Punjab visit as a campaign for "polls against corruption" after paying homage to martyrs of Indian freedom struggle at Jallianwala Bagh here.Later, members of India Against Corruption (IAC), including Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Maulana Shamoon Qasmi and Anillana addressed a meeting to enlighten public about their right to vote and for enactment of a strong Jan Lokpal Bill.
Maulana Shamoon Qasmi, member of IAC core committee, said IAC was not against or with any political party. They were with the general public only, who had always raised their voice for enactment of a strong Jan Lokpal Bill. He said the government had betrayed the whole country by not passing the Jan Lokpal Bill. Another member, Anillana, shared that these political parties had considered common people as "machine to vote." They allured the voters with false promises and succeeded in buying their priceless votes. "Now, this is the time to peep into the reality and unveil their corrupted faces," he added.
"Parties are changing since 1947. But now, it's a time to change the system. We need a system, not a party. So, whoever tries to play mudslinging games with the system must be punished," said Gopal Rai. Manish Sisodiya said that the recent incident of showing black flags to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh happened in Amritsar only, which is the land of warriors. "The government will have to face such situations as long as they fail to pass Jan Lokpal Bill," said he.
"We-the-people have become who-the-people for them. Now it is time to give them the answer for who-the-people," he added. Prashant Bhushan said, "It's time to shun voting based on religion, caste and creed. We have to rid the system of bribes. The polling must be fair, people must vote and they should vote for the right persons only."
Punjab Assembly Elections 2012
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