Anna continues his fast,makes Govt eat its words

Hazares mind on the polices 21-day offer was not known until press time. His aides Arvind Kejriwal,Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan were in a meeting with Commissioner B K Gupta at his residence.

Through the daylong negotiations,as the central government came under withering attack in parliament and his supporters protested on the streets,the activist continued his fast in the prisons administrative block.

Prashant Bhushan,who met him in Tihar,told reporters in the evening that the government would,in all likelihood,bend to the will of the people.

Anna will commence his fast from tomorrow,from either Ramlila ground or Jai Prakash Narain Park. We will communicate the location to you by tonight or tomorrow morning, Bhushan said,speaking after the police had offered Ramlila Maidan for the protest,but were yet to make their second,21-day,offer.

We have offered the Ramlila Maidan grounds. All restrictions the (Anna) team had earlier objected to have been relaxed, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

Ramlila Maidan,the ground in central Delhi from where yoga guru Baba Ramdev was evicted past midnight on June 4,can accommodate at least 25,000 people. The latest police offer,sources said,includes permission for Hazare to fast for 21 days,for his supporters to park vehicles,and to use loudspeakers and erect tents.

Till yesterday,the police were willing to allow Hazare to fast only for three days at the much smaller Jai Prakash Narain Park,with no more than 5,000 participants,and no parking facilities,loudspeakers or tents.

Tonight,police sources said,they would allow as many participants and vehicles as Ramlila Maidan can hold,and allow loudspeakers between 6 am and 10 pm,as ordered by the Supreme Court.

Day two of the protests in the city saw 290 detentions till late evening,far fewer than on Tuesday,when at least 1,500 protesters were detained.

Several hundred people camped outside Tihar through the day,shouting slogans in Hazares support. In the evening,a few thousand gathered at India Gate with candles and flags.

Earlier in the day,gurus Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Baba Ramdev and activists Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar met Hazare in jail.