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Hazare’s supporters celebrate
Jyoti Rai/TNS

New Delhi, August 27
Tricolours fluttered and deafening slogans greeted Anna Hazare and his team when he appeared on the dias around 9 pm. The swirling crowd at the Ramlila Ground got even more frenzied as the 74 year old Gandhian announced that he would be breaking his 288-hour fast at 10 am on Sunday. Slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram' and 'Inquilab Zindabad' reverberated from all corners.

Addressing the supporters the leader said, “Tomorrow morning at 10, I would like to end my Anshan (fast) with your permission. If you, (public) allow me, I would break my fast, with all of you present here.” Anna fasted for 12 days and lost 7.5kgs.

“This is not my victory; this is the victory of the Indian People. I congratulate the Members of Parliament for this tremendous victory. However, we are still just half way, the complete victory is yet to come,” Anna said soon after Maharashtra Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Congress member Sandeep Dixit read the Prime Minster’s message and handed it over to Anna.

The crowd roared, “Anna, tumhara sangharsh rang laya” in response and many of them broke into dancing.

After Arvind Kejriwal invited supporters to celebrate the win tomorrow morning with Team Anna after Anna breaks his fast, many supporters shouted they would not leave the ground the entire night.

“How can we leave now? We have been here all along, and we just wish to now see Anna’s smile once he breaks his fast,” said one of the supporters at the Maidan.

Earlier in the evening, however, Medha Patkar had referred to the latest turn of events from the government’s side as “part betrayal.” Later she declared that she was happy and did not want to talk about her earlier statements. In the morning Anna Hazare had asserted "I am not doing this for my personal gain. If it was so, I would not have lasted five days. I am surprised that a 'fakir' is getting this support. It is not me who is doing all this. God has chosen me to do the work. It is he who is doing all this. I am praised for what I am doing. A 'fakir' should not be praised so much.”

Arrival of film star Aamir Khan around 4 pm thrust new life into the crowd that seemed restless in the sweaty weather conditions and longed for some favourable announcement by Team Anna. As Aamir, in the company of director Raj Kumar Hirani reached the dais and extended his support to Anna and his cause- once again the crowd cheered to every word spoken by the popular film star. Aamir also broke his Ramzan fast in Anna’s presence.

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