Anna threatens fast again, will keep IAC name

A day after he announced his new team, Anna Hazare today threatened to go on a fast again if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed before the 2014 parliamentary elections. After his last fast in August, Hazare had said that he would not embark on another hunger strike again.

Inaugurating his new office in the capital today, Hazare said: "I am ready to break that pledge (of not fasting again) in case the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed by the government before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections... This time, I may fast at Ramlila Maidan."

Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal said today that his group will not use India Against Corruption (IAC) as its name after the formation of his political party on November 26. "Anna is too dear to us. I have deepest respect for him. After launch of our party on November 26, we will not use IAC name," Kejriwal tweeted.

Earlier in the day, stating that he considers Hazare his "guru", Kejriwal said: "If he asks me to stop using the IAC's name, I won't use it."

Hazare, on his part, urged volunteers not to indulge in a fight with Team Kejriwal, even as he announced the decision to open a bank account in the name of IAC with Sunita Godara, Kiran Bedi and Lt Col Brijender Khokhar as signatories.

"Yes, our team has spilt. But I believe both the paths are necessary. We thought that politics is not our way. We will not be enemies. A volunteer can choose his path. They should be clear in their mind. It should not be that they change minds frequently," he said.

Reiterating his earlier allegation that PM Manmohan Singh "cheated" him into breaking his Ramlila fast in August 2011, Hazare said the existing political leadership was too busy with scams to provide effective governance.

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