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Team Anna will commence its tour of Uttar Pradesh Thursday ahead of assembly polls in the state, educating voters about the Jan Lokpal bill and the stand of various political parties on the issue, a statement said Wednesday.

Team Anna will hold a public rally at Barabanki and Gonda Thursday and Faizabad and Basti Friday, the statement added.

“We will not target a single party during the campaign but put forward the need for a strong Lokpal. We would not ask people to vote in favour or against any particular party,” said an official of India Against Corruption (IAC).

“The response of various parties and their stand on the bill would be explained to people,” added the official.

The seven-phased assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh begin Feb 8 and go on till March 3.

From Tuesday, Team Anna members will be in Punjab as part of their visit to poll-bound states where they plan to highlight the need for a strong Lokpal bill - and not speak for or against any party.

“Team Anna will not campaign for and against any party. We will educate people on our version of the Lokpal bill and urge them to bring a change in society by casting their ballot in favour of the right candidate,” Team Anna member Manish Sisodia told IANS.

Under the banner of India Against Corruption, they kicked off their tour of poll-bound states, starting from Haridwar in Uttarakhand Jan 21.

While they have visited Dehradun, Rudrapur, Haldwani, the second phase of their campaign in Uttarakhand will tentatively resume Jan 27 in Kotdwar and end in Almora and Ranikhet Jan 28.

IAC members like Arvind Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas and Sisodia toured the state in the first phase, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan also made an appearance but left for Delhi after sometime.

The team visits Punjab from Tuesday, coinciding with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the state.

“The members who will campaign in Punjab are Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas. Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi are also likely to come,” said IAC media coordinator Aswathi Muralidharan said.

While Tuesday they will visit Amritsar and Jalandhar, the last leg of their campaign in Punjab will be in Phagwada, Navanshahr and Ludhiana Wednesday.

Five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab are going to polls from Jan 28 to March 3.

But Team Anna will not visit poll-bound Manipur due to time constraints. The Goa visit is expected later this month.

“We are not going to campaign in Manipur due to time constraints. It could not be worked out in the itinerary. If we had more time, we would have surely gone,” Sisodia said.

Their campaign for Uttar Pradesh - the most populous and crucial state going to the polls - has not been finalised yet.

“We’re yet to decide on the members who will campaign there,” said an IAC member.

Anna Hazare''s key aide Arvind Kejriwal has accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government of betraying the people of India.

Addressing a poll awareness campaign here on Sunday, Kejriwal lashed out at the Congress party for drafting a weak Lokpal Bill and also for not giving independent status to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The Central Government has presented a Bill in Parliament and on the other hand the Uttarakhand Government has also drafted the Lokayukta Bill in the state. We have come here to explain to the people what the Central Government bill says and what the Lokayukta bill Uttarakhand says. The Lokayukta bill of Uttarakhand is very strong and the bill of the central government is a big fraud on the people of India," Kejriwal added.

He also took the opportunity to urge people in the poll bound state to make good use of their franchise and demand that their political leaders to support the Lokpal Bill.

He further asserted that Hazare and his team are not supporting any political outfit, and appealed to the political leadership to work collectively to bring an effective mechanism, which would help root out rampant corruption in the society.

"Every party has indulged in corruption; whichever party got a chance it did that. At the centre, the UPA Government is involved in lot of corruption cases and here there are a lot of corruption cases against Bharatiya Janata Party but they are into a blame game that the other party has done more corruption. But people will get relief once they get a strong and effective Ombudsman bill and culprits would start getting imprisoned and their money would be confiscated," added Kejriwal.

Political mercury is at a high in the poll-bound Uttarakhand, where the main fight is between the current incumbent BJP and the Congress.

Polling for the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly would be held on January 30.

The ensuing polls are being viewed as an opportunity for major parties to re-establish or strengthen their foothold in the country''s five major states.

A slipper was hurled at Team Anna members during a public rally in Uttarakhand''s Dehradun city on Saturday.

According to reports, Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodiya were present on the stage, when the slipper was thrown.

Team Anna began their election tour from Uttarakhand today.

Kumar Vishwas, a close aide of veteran social activist Anna Hazare, had earlier on Friday made it clear that his team would urge the voters to vote for clean candidates and boycott the corrupt ones.

Vishwas had earlier this month rubbished reports that his team has invited yoga guru Baba Ramdev to campaign in poll-bound Uttarakhand.

The Election Commission had declared that voting in five states, including the most populous Uttar Pradesh would be held between January 28 and March 03.

Pune, Jan 10: Team Anna members on Tuesday said that they would brief Anna Hazare on the discussions that took place in the Core Committee meeting, and added that a final decision with regard to the future course of action would be taken by the veteran social activist.

Ahead of their departure to Hazare''s native village Ralegan Siddhi, Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kumar Vishwas told the media here that Anna Hazare would take a final call taking his health into consideration.

"Yesterday, we had a meeting of our Core Group. Whatever discussions took place we will brief Annaji about it. Annaji will decide on the future course of action. Annaji will take a final call on that," said Arvind Kejriwal.

"Till the time he is not fully fit, till then it is not possible for him to take part in a political campaign or any other related events," added Supreme Court lawyer and Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan.

Meanwhile, another Team Anna member Kumar Vishwas echoing similar sentiments said physical fitness is priority for Anna Hazare at the moment.

"At the moment, physical fitness is priority for Annaji. But whatever discussions took place in the meeting; he will be briefed about it. Whatever mails we have received from the whole country, we will inform him about that and accordingly follow his instructions," said Vishwas.

Team Anna''s Core Committee met in Ghaziabad on Monday amidst suggestions that the anti-corruption movement should not target a single political party in the future.

Anna Hazare was discharged from Pune''''s Sancheti Hospital on Sunday after recovering from a chest infection and bronchitis.

Hazare was admitted to the hospital on December 31 after he suffered chest infection and weakness.

He was earlier forced to cut short his hunger strike after a team of specialists advised him to start eating again on the second day of his fast, citing low blood pressure, weakness and threat to his kidneys.

Hazare had earlier threatened the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre that he would campaign in poll-bound states if a strong Jan Lokpal Bill was not passed in the Winter Session of Parliament.

Ghaziabad, Jan 2: Denying links to incident of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh shown black flags in Punjab, RTI crusader Arvind Kejriwal, a key figure in veteran social activist Anna Hazare''''s crusade against corruption, has dubbed it a non-violent way to vent out people''s anger against corruption.

"Neither any support is being given to anyone nor should one talk like that because people are fighting against corruption. This is not our movement which includes five or 10 people. It is a movement of the people of this country. And the countrymen in their own non-violent ways are demonstrating against corruption. People are angry and they are expressing it," Kejriwal told the media here.

Asked about date been fixed for core committee''s meeting, Kejriwal said: ""Right now we are going to meet Anna ji and after that, as he says we will hold core committee''s meeting and we will make final decisions after it."

"Due to his ill health the meeting was postponed. So we will plan according to whatever suits him," he added.

Dr. Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur on Sunday got a taste of public anger over delay in the passage of the Lokpal bill when a group of people shouted slogans and waved black flags at them outside the Golden Temple, where they had gone to offer prayers.

As soon as the prime minister and his wife came out of the temple complex, around 30-35 agitators, including women, shouted "PM wapas jao (prime minister go back)".

They also raised slogans against corruption and demanded the Lokpal bill while the prime minister and his wife were inside the temple.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) Accusing the government with having no intention to pass the Lokpal bill, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal Friday said all the disturbances in the Rajya Sabha had been pre-planned.

Had the Lokpal bill been passed in the Rajya Sabha Thursday, it could have been at least a good start for Lokpal but the government had no intention to pass the bill and it has deceived the people, he said at a press conference here.

Kejriwal alleged that the ruling party had devised “tactics” for delaying the procedure in the upper house of parliament.

“The lengthy speech delivered by leaders and disturbance caused by RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) led by Lalu Yadav was done according to a script, written before. Everything was pre-decided,” he said.

“The government did not have majority in Rajya Sabha yet they know how to play with the parliament process. The government has deceived the people of the country,” he said.

Mumbai, Dec 26 The Anna Hazare campaign against corruption is equally opposed to communalism, his confidante Arvind Kejriwal said Monday.

Speaking to journalists after Team Anna’s core group held free and frank discussions with Muslim leaders, Kejriwal sought to dispel the impression that the movement was soft on communalism.

“Communalism is a bigger danger. We have said repeatedly that we are totally against communalism,” he said, a day before Hazare starts a three-day fast here to demand a strong Lokpal.

Kejriwal underlined that corruption affected everyone irrespective of which religion they belonged to.

“Corruption does not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims. Corruption affects all communities. A corrupt officer is neither Hindu nor Muslim, he is corrupt.”

Kejriwal also allayed fears that a larger gathering at the Hazare fast venue could lead to trouble or violence.

“In Delhi lakhs of people got together at Ramlila ground, yet there was no trouble. This is because we asked everyone to be vigilant.”

Kejriwal clarified that India Against Corruption and the Hazare movement were not ranged against parliament.

“It is the government that has betrayed the country, betrayed parliament. We are appealing to parliament with folded hands to pass a good Lokpal bill.”

A Muslim leader intervened to say that he and his colleagues had “a very good meeting” with Team Anna and that the latter had “cleared many doubts we had”.

“We spoke about communalism openly,” he said. “As far as corruption is concerned, we are always against it.”

Ghaziabad, Dec 22: The government’s Lokpal bill is very dangerous as it will make the ombudsman a puppet in the hands of the government, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said here Thursday.

“It (Lokpal) is a very dangerous bill which will be controlled by the government. The removal, suspension and selection of the Lokpal will be decided by the government,” Kejriwal said addressing a press conference here.

Rejecting the recommendations of parliamentary panel on Lokpal Bill, Team Anna today claimed that they will not have any impact on corruption and will instead dismantle the existing anti-graft mechanism.

"I think the recommendations of the (Parliamentary) Standing Committee, whatever they are, the Lokpal which is coming, I don't think this will have any impact on corruption. On the contrary, it is likely to dismantle whatever exists in the name of anti-corruption in this country," activist Arvind Kejriwal said.

Claiming that the Standing Committee proposes to divide CBI into three parts, Kejriwal said the move will cripple the investigating agency.

"So by taking excuse of Anna andolan rather than strengthening the anti-corruption system, they seem to further weaken whatever exists," he said.

Asked whether Anna Hazare will go ahead with his proposed fast, he said it was for the Gandhian to take a call. "As far as fast is concerned, it is Anna who is going to decide."

"All that I can say is we are committed till the end for a strong Lokpal Bill," he added.

Kejriwal was of the view that it was "extremely difficult" at this stage to say anything because Standing Committee's recommendations were not final.

"The government can accept or go further than that. So let's wait and watch and only then we will be able to tell what form," he said.