New Delhi: In a startling disclosure that is bound to raise many eyebrows, former union minister Salman Khurshid has claimed that Arvind Kejriwal parted ways with Anna Hazare not because he had political ambitions but due to Anna's secret parleys with the then UPA govt, according to some media reports.
In fact, Khurshid claims, Kejriwal took the extreme step as he got furious after he came to know of the secret parleys Anna was having with UPA government (Salman Khurshid himself) and it was this sense of betrayal that finally led to his walking out of alliance with Anna.
Salman Khurshid has made this sensational disclosure in his forthcoming book "Other Side of the Mountain".
The book claims that on June 23, 2012, when Khurshid was in Pune along with his wife Louise, a mediator offered to arrange a meeting with Hazare. Khurshid informed his party high-command of the offer and was asked to go ahead and see if Anna could campaign for Congress.
After dodging Maharashtra police personnel on the pretext of going to attend the funeral of a close relative, Salman Khurshid met Anna Hazare at an undisclosed location outside Pune. The meeting, Khurshid claims, went very well and Anna Hazare even agreed to campaign for Congress but he wanted a formal letter from the government.
Interestingly, the former union minister claims, Anna lied to Kiran Bedi about this meeting and told her that he was going to meet some saint.
"He (Anna) also advised me to deny this meeting if at all press got a wind of it. For a larger good and to the benefit of nation, one can lie," writes Salman
Khurshid .
Unfortunately for the UPA govt, a goof-up on part of the PMO, spoiled everything. It so happened that instead of sending the letter to Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra, the PMO dispatched it to IAC office in Delhi headed by Arvind Kejriwal. The letter shocked Kejriwal as he was completely in dark about the ongoing talks between Anna and Congress-led UPA govt.
Both Khurshid and Anna denied attending any such meetings at that time but the damage was done and the PMO letter set the stage for Kejriwal's parting of ways with Anna Hazare.
