New Delhi: Even as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government seems to be moving towards building a consensus on the Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has come under renewed attack from the political class.
Union Finance Minister and Congress' chief trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee has reached out to non-Congress members of Parliamentary Standing Committee including Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan to get them on board to approve a strong Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
Hazare, who has already undertaken two hunger strikes demanding a strong Lokpal, has threatened to go on another fast if Parliament fails to pass a strong anti-corruption Bill in the winter session, which begins on November 22.
However, political parties and leaders have not taken Hazare's threat lightly and targeted him for criticising them and claimed that he cannot claim credit for the anti-corruption movement.
Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna hit out at Team Anna saying that Hazare and his associates alone are not responsible for the anti-corruption movement while Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh claimed that Hazare has been over estimating the power of his team's Jan Lokpal Bill in tackling corruption.
In an editorial in 'Saamna', Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray severely criticised Team Anna's stance of being the self-appointed authority on corruption and trying to steal the limelight on the anti-graft crusade. The editorial also lashed out at the double-standards exercised by Team Anna saying that it has no locus standi to comment on corruption when it itself has members like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, both of whom have been accused of financial irregularities.
"Just who gave the right to this Team Anna- to give certificates to political parties? Who gave them the right to say that the Congress is a graduate in corruption and the BJP a PHD in corruption?. There us an anti-Congress wave in the country. Team Anna shouldn't look to take credit for the same," the editorial said.
"Anna himself has people like Kiran Bedi and Kejriwal who have been accused of financial irregularities," it added.
Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh took another swipe at Hazare claiming that the Jan Lokpal Bill proposed by Team Anna cannot end the scourge of corruption single-handedly.
"Anna is over estimating the Jan Lokpal Bill. Corruption can only be removed by a comprehensive strategy by the judiciary, government, police and bureaucracy together, so that it can be tackled on every level. Just passing a law won't help anyone. No one is opposing the Lokpal Bill," said Singh.
With fresh controversies hitting his associates with every passing day, Hazare on Monday spoke out on his team's revamp.
"People whose power may go, whose source of income is likely to be shut down, those people are trying to break our team. Some people have objected to the selections. The new committee that will be formed will be with a long term vision in mind. Youth power is necessary. Youth from every section of the society are required. Whoever wants to inquire into the team should inquire. If they have doubts about the team they should inquire," Hazare said while indicating that he will bring in new faces in his core committee.
There have been speculations that Hazare wanted to remove noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan from the core committee following his (Bhushan's) controversial statement demanding a plebiscite in the Kashmir Valley to determine its future.
The decision of Team Anna to campaign against the Congress during the Hisar Lok Sabha by-elections in Haryana also led to differences among the team with two of Hazare's close associates - Rajendra Singh and PV Rajgopal - quitting the team following differences over its political stand.
Singh, popularly known as 'Waterman', said he and Rajgopal dissociated themselves from Hazare's movement as it had "deviated from its objective".
Even Hazare's blog, which he started to connect with the younger generation and maintain the momentum of the anti-corruption crusade, is under cloud after his official blogger, Raju Parulekar, wrote that the veteran social activist had discussed the restructuring of the core committee with him.
Parulekar claimed that the Hazare wanted to remove "undemocratic and fascist" Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and "their pawns" from his core group.
Parulekar uploaded on to Hazare's blog a hand written note by the anti-corruption crusader himself, which clearly stated that Hazare was thinking of restructuring the core committee of India Against Corruption (IAC). Parulekar said this note was not posted online under pressure from Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan.
Anna replied by saying, "When I write the blog, even one word should not be changed. I will see if this has happened and if it has, I will stop writing."
The fallout between Hazare and Parulekar came as the former claimed that he never ever spoke to the journalist or met him on the issue of re-structuring of Core Committee and forming a new Pan-Indian organisation with immediate effect.
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