Anna breaks silence, 'regains energy' for Lokpal fight

New Delhi: Breaking his 19-day vow of silence at Rajghat on Friday morning, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare said his 'maun vrat' was not was not against any individual or political party but to regain power to fight for a strong Lokpal bill and against corruption.

He is likely to attend a meeting of the standing committee on the Lokpal bill on Friday, his aides say.

"I visited the Gandhi's memorial on Friday morning and broke the maun vrat, which I observed since Oct 16. The vow of silence was not against any individual or any political party, but to regain energy," Hazare told reporters here.

The anti-corruption crusader said "Bharat Mata ki jai" after paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

"After the 12-day fast in Ramlila Maidan, my body became weak. I lost 7 kg of weight so I had to observe maun vrat. Now after the vow of silence my body is back to normal, I regained the power to fight for Jan Lokpal bill and against corruption," Hazare said.

"My health has become absolutely fine after the vow of silence. I now have more inspiration to fight for Lokpal. I have got the energy again to fight for the Lokpal bill," he added.

During his maun vrat, the 74-year-old activist had been putting forward his views through his writings that were then read out by his aides or through his blog.

"There were too many visitors, he had to speak almost three to four times a day. After he went on fast at Ramlila Maidan, he had lost lot of weight and energy and to recover, he observed maun vrat, which was only to conserve energy," Kiran Bedi told Times Now.

An India Against Corruption (IAC) member said: "Annaji had reached Delhi last night and he broke his vow of silence. He is likely to attend a meeting of the standing committee on Lokpal bill."

Hazare has threatened to launch another hunger strike if the Lokpal bill is not passed in the winter session of parliament beginning later this month.