Anna Hazare prepares to launch protest

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NEW DELHI: Indian social activist Anna Hazare departed New Delhi's Tihar jail on Friday and led a massive procession of supporters through the city streets, preparing to launch a 15-day hunger fast and demonstration to pressure the government to enact strong anti-corruption reforms.

Hazare waved to his supporters from atop a raised platform on a truck moving slowly along with the crowd. Supporters were waving national flags and singing and dancing; others threw flower petals on Hazare. Heavy rains fell, complicating the situation for organizers, but thousands of supporters weren't deterred by the weather.

Hazare's procession and demonstration is the culmination of several days of high drama in India's capital. The 73-year-old military veteran-turned-activist was arrested Tuesday after he refused to accept police restrictions on the size and length of his planned corruption protest. By Thursday, he had cut a deal with police for a 15-day demonstration with no limits on the number of attendees.

Hazare is pushing for the creation of a powerful anti-corruption ombudsman in India known as a Lokpal agency. He and his team of activists believe the government's Lokpal proposal isn't strong enough because it doesn't allow for the prosecution of sitting prime ministers and judges, and because civil society plays little role in selecting who would run the agency.

In coming days, Hazare's team and the government will likely be looking for face-saving ways to compromise, analysts said. Some Indian news reports said Hazare's side might be willing to forego having the judiciary under the ambit of the Lokpal so long as the government swiftly moves separate legislation to ensure judicial accountability.

At the rain-soaked Ramlila grounds where Hazare will carry out the hunger strike and protest, one of his aides, former cop Kiran Bedi, was rallying supporters in a Hindi chant of "Until the Lokpal bill passes, we won't leave! We won't leave!" Despite being worked over by grounds crews overnight, the site was in bad shape after the late morning monsoon. The large expanse of dirt had turned in many places into large muddy puddles traversed by electrical cables, raising safety questions. A tent was set up to protect attendees from the rain but could fit only about 500 people—the site can hold tens of thousands.

Groups of college students and schoolchildren were arriving at Ramlila ahead of Hazare's visit, skipping classes to join the demonstration.

"We're bunking our lectures to support Anna all day, no matter if it rains," said Choitali Ghosh, 19, a student at Delhi University.

She said Mr. Hazare should resist any temptation to compromise with the government.

"We've been compromising for 64 years—no compromises!" she said.