Amid reports that Anna Hazare was against forming a political party,
speculations are rife that Team Anna will test political waters first in next
year's Delhi Assembly polls, before taking a plunge in the 2014 General
elections. Sources say that they will give a miss to elections in Himachal
Pradesh and Gujarat.
Core members of the now disbanded Team Anna are meeting at Prashant Bhushan's
residence to decide on their politcal future. This, amid reports suggesting
that anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was reluctant to be associated with a
political party. Dismissing speculations, Arvind Kejriwal said that there was
no rift within the group. He said that propaganda machinery was working
overtime to create differences between Anna and them.
Team member Kiran Bedi tweeted, "Anna has said this before... Both the
options are open..Those who are ready to form political party can go ahead with
the option & those who feel movement is fine, can go ahead with the
movement. There is no confusion & conflict...I think the country needs both
option."
Sources in India Against Corruption (IAC) said a large number of volunteers in
a meeting on Saturday pitched in for fighting the Delhi Assembly elections
first.
This could mean the activists, who decided to turn their anti-graft movement
into a political one, will give a miss to assembly elections in Himachal
Pradesh and Gujarat.
The sources said the volunteers raised the demand at a meeting on Saturday
attended by Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai among others.
Kejriwal told volunteers that their first focus will be on Congress-ruled
Delhi. He also asked volunteers to start working in all the 70 constituencies
in Delhi, they said.
The decision early this month to take a political plunge had created a rift in
the Team Anna with a section of members like Santosh Hegde opposing it.
There were also claims from a section of the team that Hazare was not keen to
take a political plunge but was forced by some of his colleagues, an allegation
denied by Kejriwal.
Though it had made clear its intention to have a shot at power in the 2014 Lok
Sabha elections on an anti-corruption plank, Team Anna had not talked about
contesting the Assembly elections slated this year-end.
Anna Hazare and his team have been targeting the UPA government on Lokpal issue
for the past 16 months but were earlier undecided whether they would target the
BJP governments in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh this year-end and Karnataka
next year by contesting elections there.
Team Anna had talked about a political alternative which they had claimed will
be people-centric.
Defending its decision to go political, Team Anna had said their numerous
protests and fasts did not yield any result as the government stonewalled their
demands and showed little interest in bringing those guilty of big scams to
book.
Team Anna on Sunday claimed that the decision to turn the anti-corruption
movement political was Anna Hazare's and a "malicious" campaign has
been working overtime to drive a wedge between them and the 74-year-old social
activist.
Breaking his silence over claims by a section of Team Anna members that Hazare
was against forming a political party, activist Arvind Kejriwal alleged a
"propaganda machinery" was working overtime to "drive
wedge" between Hazare and other activists.
"A malicious campaign is being run that Anna is against political party
and that Team thrust it on Anna. Truth is it was Anna's decision,"
Kejriwal tweeted on Sunday morning.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
