Pune, Dec 2 (NIE): Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday warned that he will start another agitation from January 30 if the Centre failed to appoint Lokpal and Lokayuktas as per the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013.

Hazare said he had decided to postpone or suspend his agitation earlier, as he had trusted the promises made by the Modi government or its emissaries. The activist said he was wrong to believe the promises “as they turned out to be lies”. Earlier this year, the activist had announced that he would go on a hunger strike from October 2 in his village Ralegan Siddhi over non-appointment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas. However, Hazare had withdrawn the protest after he was placated by state Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan.

“I was told by the state government and BJP ministers that the application process for the appointment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas was in its final stages. They asked me to give them one more chance. I believed them and decided to postpone the agitation. Since it is an important matter of public interest and in a democracy one has to resolve issues with discussions, I decided to give the government another opportunity. I kept postponing the agitation. However, now it’s clear to me that the government only misled me and the country. In the last four years, the government did not appoint Lokpal and Lokayuktas and it’s clear that it lacks the will to do so,” said Hazare.

In October, soon after Hazare announced his plans to start the agitation, the state government has started taking steps to prevent it. Mahajan travelled to Ralegan Siddhi thrice and persuaded Hazare to cancel the agitation. After Hazare’s protest at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan in March 2018, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had acted as an emissary of the central government, persuading him to break his fast on March 29 after assuring him that his demands would be fulfilled.