Anna Hazare to visit UP to mobilise support for Lokpal

Lucknow: Noted social activist Anna Hazare will visit Lucknow on Monday to moblise support for the Lokpal and Lokayukta, one of his aides said on Saturday. "The visit will be an attempt to mobilise public support for the Lokpal at national level and Lokayukta at the state level," Hazare's close associate Sunil Lal informed. "Following the forthcoming March 23 Satyagrah at Delhi, Anna Hazare would be in Uttar Pradesh for two days," he added. The legislation to have an effective Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in all the states -- despite having been passed by Parliament in December 2013 -- has made little headway. In fact, it was further diluted when in July 2017 it extended for the fifth time the deadline for filing of asset declarations by the nearly 50 lakh central government employees and their spouses, and NGOs receiving government funds, organisers of the Hazare visit said. Anna Hazare will be in Lucknow on Monday and will spend the next day in Sitapur before leaving for Pune on Wednesday.