Veteran anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was admitted to a hospital in Pune’s Shirur taluk on Tuesday after he complained of cold and a feeling of fatigue.
The 82-year-old activist, who had been suffering from cold, cough and resultant tiredness since Monday, was taken from his residence in Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district and admitted to the Vedanta Criticare Multispecialty Hospital on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway.
He was examined by a team of doctors there and later admitted. The doctors, whilst advising total rest, have said there is no cause for alarm.
“It was a routine check-up. Doctors at the Vedanta Hospital have said there is no cause for worry and have advised him to take complete rest. Anna has been admitted as a precautionary measure,” said a close aide of Mr. Hazare, adding that the activist is likely to be discharged by Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, in an interview given to a vernacular daily, the activist censured the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for admitting ‘tainted’ leaders into their fold, stating that the party was risking being defamed if it continued this way.
Mr. Hazare further urged the public, especially younger voters, to teach a lesson to parties that fielded candidates with tainted backgrounds.
In July this year, the anti-corruption activist had hit out against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre for passing amendments to the Right to Information Act, remarking that the government’s introduction of the regressive RTI Amendment Bill was akin to “deceiving the people of the country”.
At the time, he had further said that while he no longer had the strength to lead new agitations, he would certainly participate in a demonstration against the weakening of the RTI Act if the youth and the general public took the lead.