Team Anna on Tuesday stepped up its anti-corruption stir against the government by announcing that three of its members – Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai – will begin their fast at Jantar Mantar from Wednesday. They are demanding the constitution of a special investigation team to probe corruption charges against 15 cabinet ministers.

At a press conference in Constitution Club, team members presented a united front with all leading activists – Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi, Shanti Bhushan besides Kejriwal – joining Anna Hazare on the eve of their yet another fast protest in the Capital.

Anna, whose health has been a concern, said he would join the fast from July 29 if the UPA government did not respond to their three demands. Besides the SIT demand, Team Anna wants the formation of fasttrack courts to speed up prosecution of 162 Lok Sabha and 39 Rajya Sabha members facing charges, Arvind Kejriwal, who has emerged the virtual second-in-command in the team, said.

The fast will follow what has become a familiar norm now with Hazare first paying his respects at Rajghat before proceeding to Jantar Mantar for his sit-in. The ritual may be delayed on Wednesday with President-elect Pranab Mukherjee also scheduled to visit Rajghat around 10 am. Team Anna members will be allowed in Rajghat only after Mukherjee leaves.Their third demand is that all probes against presidents of various political parties currently being carried out by the CBI should be handed over to the SIT. Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan, the activist Supreme Court lawyer, alleged parties like the SP were arm-twisted into supporting UPA’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee as they feared action against them by the CBI.

Anna v Cong

The stage is set for confrontation between Team Anna and the ruling Congress as a parliamentary panel will hear a complaint against Kejriwal. The committee will hear out two Congress MPs Sajjan Singh Verma and Jagdambika Pal, on Wednesday, as they had filed a complaint against Kejriwal on March 12 and 26 for making derogatory and indecent remarks against MPs.