Hisar/New Delhi, Oct 11: The Team Anna-Congress war of words intensified today with Arvind Kejriwal dismissing as “absurd” talk of Anna Hazare nursing an ambition to become President and Digvijay Singh asking why they were not attacking BJP and only targeting his party.
Claiming that Team Anna was not campaigning for any party in the run up to the October 13 Hisar Lok Sabha bypolls, Kejriwal said their movement should not be held responsible if in any way it benefits the opposition.
“We are fighting for systemic changes. We are not campaigning for anyone or asking voters to vote for a particular candidate. We are not responsible if opposition is benefited. It is the Congress which is responsible for this.
“If they make an announcement (about bringing the Jan Lokpal Bill) today, we will withdraw our entire campaign against them,” he told reporters here.
In New Delhi, Singh asked Hazare why he was not attacking the BJP and cautioned him against “lofty promises” by that party of making him a Presidential candidate.
“You have never raised your voice against the BJP,” Singh, who has been a vocal critic of Team Anna, said and asked why Hazare was “silent” on the issue of corruption when the BJP-led NDA was in power.
“What is being seen now is that you have been strongly opposing the Congress and as against this you have been praising BJP's Narendra Modi despite the fact that there is no Lokayukta in Gujarat for the past nine years,” Singh said in a four-page open letter.
Raising the pitch against against the Congress, other members of Team Anna including Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia too addressed public gatherings asking people to refrain from voting for the party for its “failure” to bring their Bill in Parliament.
Reacting to Congress leader Singh's remarks that Hazare wants to become the President, Kejriwal said, “There is no truth in the claims that Anna wants to become President of India. This is completely absurd..complete bunkum”. On his part, Singh asked the anti-graft crusader whether he was oblivious with whom he and his associates will be aligning by the call to vote against the Congress.
“Are you not aware of the history of the family of late Bhajan Lal? Are you not acquainted with the history of Chautala family? Are you oblivious of the fact that there were cases of corruption pending against them in courts?,” he asked.
Singh told Hazare that an impression was gaining ground that he has been surrounded by people who have always been opposed to the ideology of the Congress.
“Be it Shanti Bhushan or his son Prashant or your colleague Kejriwal. All these people have been opposed to the Congress. These people are taking advantage of your clean character for their own political gains,” he said.
While referring to the show of support by RSS including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, Singh alleged that Hazare's statements that he is not aware that Sangh has extended support to their movement raises questions about his “credibility”. PTI
