Farm laws:Firm on indefinite hunger strike from Jan 30, says Anna Hazare after meeting former CM Devendra Fadnavis

After social activist Anna Hazare announced that he would go on an indefinite hunger strike from January 30 in support of the farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders, leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly and former chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis met him to convince him against the decision.

However, after the meeting, Hazare said he was firm on his decision and demanded that the farm laws be repealed. “The BJP delegation led by Fadnavis met me today and handed over a statement by Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. But I am firm on my announcement of going on hunger strike in support of the farmers,” he said after the meeting, which was held at Hazare’s village in Ralegan Siddhi, Ahmednagar.

Fadnavis was joined by other BJP leaders such as Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Girish Mahajan. Fadnavis said he had met Hazare to understand the activist’s opinion on the laws.

“Anna is the pride of Maharashtra and nobody wants him to go on hunger strike. He has some reservations about the assurances given to him by the Centre in the past. The Union agriculture minister has personally asked to understand his stand. We’ve spoken to Anna and will convey his demands to the Centre and get back to him. We hope Anna will be satisfied with Centre’s response,” said Fadnavis.

On Thursday, Hazare claimed the BJP had failed to fulfil assurances given to him thrice. He said,“There’s no point of verbal communication when they can’t keep the written promises.”