90 per cent burns,but he still mumbles ‘Anna Zindabad’

On Wednesday,responding to Yadav’s extreme step,Anna Hazare said he was pained by the incident. “The self-immolation attempt by this youth is extremely wrong and if the act is repeated,it will pain me severely. If one wants to bring about a revolution,one must die fighting and struggling. Treating your body like this is not at all correct,” Hazare said at Ramlila Maidan.

Yadav was identified with the help of an NREGA card that he was carrying,police said.

Terming his condition as “critical”,a senior doctor at LN Hospital said,“The patient suffered 90 per cent burns and is very serious. We are not allowing anybody inside his room,except his family members,because we are facing a lot of political pressure.”

According to his younger brother,Yadav came to Delhi on Monday from Dulhanbazaar in Patna’s Sarfuddinpur village to “support” Hazare. “Dinesh reached Delhi around 10 am on Monday by train. He told me the next day that he was going back home. At 9.30 pm,we received a call from the police informing us about the incident. Police said he shouted pro-Anna slogans,poured petrol and set himself on fire. We then rushed to the hospital,” said Amarjit (18).

“When I asked him why he did all this,he started weeping. Feebly,he started saying ‘Anna Zindabad’. The doctors have put him under observation for 48 hours.”

Yadav’s second brother,Mithilesh,said he was politically active. “He used to support Rashtriya Janata Dal earlier,now he supports Congress party. He also used to discuss Anna Hazare with other family members and villagers,” he said.

Amarjit said Yadav “was bright and intelligent” and wanted to apply for a government job,but could not do so due to “financial troubles”. “He is the only earning member of his family. His children are very young. I wonder what will become of them,if something happens to him. Thankfully,the hospital has not charged us anything for his treatment till now,” he said.