Black flags waved at PM outside Golden Temple

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was greeted with blag flags from Anna Hazare supporters after his arrival at Golden Temple in Amritsar on Sunday.
The protest by some Hazare supporters caught the security agencies completely off guard.
Though none of the protesters could reach anywhere near the prime minister, they were able to register their symbolic protest as they shouted pro-Anna Hazare and pro-Jan Lokpal bill slogans.

The incident took place just as Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur came out of the Sikh shrine after offering prayers.

Party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, "Such incidents are very unfortunate. Black flags should be shown to them who did not allow the Bill to pass. We will try in all the ways to pass the Bill. The BJP did not allow the Bill to pass, so black flags should be shown to them."

Team Anna member Shazia Ali, however, retorted, saying, "Don't think this protest was done at the behest of Team Anna. This was the public's anger. This is public mood. Why does Congress always blame other parties? They are the party in power."

The prime minister started the first day of the new year by offering prayers at the holiest of Sikh shrines, Harmandar Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, early Sunday.

He reached the shrine complex at around 6.30 a.m. with his wife and remained at the shrine for over 75 minutes.

Punjab is going to polls this year and Team Anna has already announced that they will campaign against the Congress in poll-bound states.

"We do not want the PM, we want the Lokpal bill. If the PM cannot give us the Lokpal bill, he should resign. We want the Lokpal bill, the PM is just playing a puppet's role," one of the Anna supporters said.

A handful Hazare's supporters, including women, raised slogans against corruption and in favour of Lokpal as soon as Singh and his wife came out after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple.

The supporters also raised slogans asking the PM to go back (PM wapas jao). They also showed small black flags to Prime Minister.

Government failed to get the Lokpal Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 30 after opposition from parties, including ally Trinamool Congress.

Earlier, top police and district officers reviewed security arrangements for the PM's visit at a meeting.

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