New Delhi, Sep 9: Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor has questioned the right of Anna Hazare and his team to represent civil society on the issue of Lokpal and asked them to go to people and seek their mandate before taking up the anti-corruption cause.
"Who has given Anna Hazare and his team members the right to represent the civil society? Until and unless the so-called civil society members go to the people and win elections, they cannot claim to be representing the civil society in the true sense of the term," Tharoor said addressing a seminar at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts here.
Casting doubts on the accountability of the proposed Lokpal, Tharoor, who had to resign as minister last year in the wake of the Kochi IPL row, asked what would happen if the anti-corruption watchdog itself became corrupt.
"What if the Lokpal itself becomes corrupt? Who is going to control the inspectors? Who is going to guard the guardians? These are important questions which cannot be brushed aside," he said at the seminar on the theme 'Toward A World of Dignity For all: The Triumph Of The Creative Life'.
