IANS/New Delhi
Police to allow activist Anna Hazare to hold his fast for a more powerful anti-corruption Lokpal Bill.Ramdev met the president at 11.45am and submitted a memorandum supporting Hazare’s fight against corruption. “I have requested the president to intervene immediately to stop the government from taking unconstitutional and undemocratic steps,” Ramdev told reporters outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace. He made an appeal to the president that Hazare be allowed to peacefully hold a fast in the capital. Hazare was jailed on Tuesday ahead of his fast. Though he was subsequently released, he has refused to come out until he is allowed to hold his protest without any conditions. Ramdev staged a fast against black money on June 4. But the protest ended in the early hours of June 5 with a midnight crackdown by the police.It was a virtual carnival in the area around Tihar jail here with thousands packing the roads around it with one aim - to see their icon Anna Hazare walk out of the prison.Spirits ran high on the second day of protests. But there was also visible anger against the government for locking up an ageing Gandhian.Many protesters raised slogans directed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some cabinet ministers who are particularly seen to be vocally anti-Hazare.“Being in power for so long has made this government very arrogant. They look at themselves as rulers. It’s high time this misconception gets destroyed,” retired Border Security Force (BSF) soldier Shyam Singh said outside the high security prison.