In a brief message to a crowd outside the jail, Anna Hazare thanked people across India for their support and asked them to join him for his protest fast at the city's public venue, the Ramlila Maidan.

"The torch of freedom you have lit to rid India of corruption should not go out," the 74-year-old said. "Whether Anna is there or not, the torch will burn on." He referred to his campaign against corruption as "a second freedom struggle."

The steady drizzle all morning did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of about 2,000 people who had gathered with flags to catch a glimpse of the famous anti-corruption activist. After his address, Anna was seen waving the national flag. Hundreds of smaller flags fluttered in response in the crowd that chanted "Anna zindabad" (Long live Anna!).

Anna Hazare then boarded an open-top truck to carry him through the streets to an open venue in central Delhi where he will stage his fast, which is aimed at forcing the government to bow to his demands for stronger anti-corruption law. Hundreds of his supporters followed following his convoy as he headed to Ramlila Maidan.

Gaining momentum

Anna Hazare was arrested Tuesday as he prepared to stage a public hunger strike to campaign for stronger anti-graft legislation. He was given permission to leave Tihar Jail Wednesday but refused to move until the police allowed him to hold his protest without any conditions. Tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against his arrest, eventually forcing the government to concede to his demands for staging a fast.

He was granted the permission to hold his public fast on Thursday but waited an extra day while the Ramlila Ground was prepared.

Anna began his fast in jail on Tuesday and has been checked regularly by doctors since. His team has said that the hunger strike is "not a fast unto death but an indefinite fast."

'Totally misconceived'

India's increasingly vulnerable-looking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has denounced Hazare's campaign as a "totally misconceived" attempt to undermine parliamentary democracy, but his words have gained little public traction.

Once seen as just an annoying thorn in the side of the establishment, Hazare has thus become a national figure whose popularity has shaken a government elected in 2009 with an unassailable parliamentary majority.

His campaign has tapped into a deep reservoir of discontent over corruption, especially among India's burgeoning middle-class.

Author: Sachin Gaur (dpa, AFP, PTI)
Editor: Anne Thomas