Recovering from weakness after his 12-day Ramlila Maidan fast, social activist Anna Hazare returned to his village Ralegan Siddhi in the early hours of Thursday but skipped the idol installation function at the Ganpati pandal for the first time and chose to spend the day in isolation, in a room on the Padmavati Temple premises.
People from various parts of the state and the country had come to the village to have a glimpse of Anna but he did not emerge to address them. He is likely to make a public appearance on Friday for the gram sabha meeting and will probably address the media on Monday.
When Anna reached his village at around 1.30 in the morning after landing at Pune airport, he was greeted by hundreds of villagers who burst crackers and raised slogans in favour of the Jan Lokpal bill.
On entering the village, Anna first visited the Yadav Baba temple where he stays and offered prayers. Some women greeted him with an aarti. Anna thereafter moved to the Bhakta Nivas of Padmavati temple, where sleeping arrangements had been made for him.