Ranchi, Aug 22 (IANS) Anna Hazare’s supporters Monday demonstrated outside houses of Jharkhand MPs here and sought an apology from Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay for terming the social activist insane.


Apart from Sahay's house, pickets were seen before the house of Yashwant Sinha, the Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member from Hazaribagh.

Sahay, who was not in Ranchi in the morning, said upon his arrival here: “My statement was distorted. I stand what I said. I termed the call for a 'blackout' on Independence Day sheer madness."

After Hazare's arrest Aug 16, Sahay told reporters: "Anna was arrested due to his madness. How can the government allow a person to fast for an indefinite period of time?"

Earlier Monday morning, hundreds of youths wearing Gandhi caps gathered outside Sahay's house in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) campus in Ranchi, holding banners that read: "Subodh samajhdar hai, hum sab pagal hai." (Subodh is wise, we all are mad.)

"Subodh Kant Sahay should publicly apologise for terming Anna mad," Anna supporter Kriti said. "We will sit on demonstration till Sahay does so and agrees to vote in favour of Anna's Jan Lokpal bill."

In Jharkhand, where many scams have been exposed recently, support for Hazare is swelling. Support for Hazare is being witnessed in rural parts of the state as well. People came in from Murhu, Mandar and other villages of Ranchi district.

In the city, autorickshaw drivers observed a two-hour strike in Hazare's support.