Anti-graft activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, whose hunger strike against “inflated” power and water bills in Delhi entered the 14{+t}{+h} day on Friday, said he would call off his fast on Saturday.
Announcing his decision at the fast venue, a slum area in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi party leader hinted at the second phase of AAP’s protest wherein activists would help residents of Delhi to reconnect power supply to homes that were without electricity because of unpaid bills.
“The party’s volunteers would go door-to-door to restore electricity connections of poor people in Delhi,” he added.
As part of his “civil disobedience” campaign, Kejriwal had urged people not to pay their bills and claimed to have collected over 10 lakh signatures in support of this.
“Tomorrow is April 6 and it is a very auspicious day as Mahatma Gandhiji broke the salt law in 1930 after the Dandi March to launch the civil disobedience movement,” Kejriwal said, and added that he wished veteran activist Anna Hazare would help him break his fast.
He urged Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who cold-shouldered Kejriwal’s 14-day fast, to listen to the voice of people if she believed in democracy, and reduce power and water tariffs.