If Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal thought that by sending party member Gopal Rai to Ralegan Siddhi for Anna Hazare’s Lokpal agitation their strained relations would be mended, then he was completely wrong.
Now it is evident that the divide between Kejriwal and Hazare, which has now come out in the open, runs more deeper than seen on the surface. On Friday, an angry Hazare asked Rai to shut up and leave the ground when he objected to former Army Chief V K Singh attacking Kejriwal.
Gopal Rai arrived in Ralegan Siddhi to participate in Hazare’s fast which entered its fourth day. Rai was given due respect by Hazare and made to sit in the front row.
V K Singh, who had come to the venue to express his support to Hazare, in his speech began indirectly attacking Kejriwal.
“If we have to ensure that our country progresses, then we have to fight together and not form different groups and political parties in order to just gain advantage for yourselves,” he said, in an apparent reference to Kejriwal, who formed the AAP.
Irked by the scathing attack, Rai got into a verbal slanging match with him. It was then Hazare, who was sitting on the stage, took the mike and rebuked Rai publicly. “Gopal Rai, you please keep quiet. You are not following the proper system, why are you talking in between,” he asked, clearly agreeing with Singh’s remarks. He said that Rai was not welcome in Ralegan Siddhi.
Later, Rai calmed down, but later told reporters that he was not against Hazare, but people like V K Singh who were hobnobbing with Modi and sharing stage with Hazare.