MUMBAI: Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday termed as "ironic" the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was part of the Jan Lokpal movement, in a corruption case even as he demanded a thorough probe into the matter and punishment for the guilty.
Hazare in a statement accused Kejriwal of betraying the trust of crores of countrymen and rued that political ambitions destroyed the 2011 anti-corruption movement.
"I am very pained over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case related to the liquor policy of the Delhi government. It is ironic that my colleague from the Jan Lokpal movement, aimed against graft, was arrested in a corruption case," he stated.
A demand for Jan Lokpal at the start of the last decade became a mass movement that shook the Congress-led UPA government of that time.
Hazare, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia had emerged as the key faces of the movement.
Kejriwal later formed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and went on to win elections along with Sisodia.
Hazare, however, disassociated himself after the movement took a political turn.
It was unfortunate that the political alternative of the Jan Lokpal movement has turned unsuccessful and the anti-corruption movement has been destroyed because of political ambitions, Hazare stated targeting Kejriwal.
The India anti-corruption movement was a series of demonstrations and protests across India that began in 2011 and was intended to establish strong legislation against perceived political corruption.
Accusing Kejriwal of betraying the trust of crores of countrymen, the social activist referred to a letter written by him to the Delhi chief minister in August 2022 over the excise policy.
Hazare, based in the Ahmed Nagar district of Maharashtra, also pointed out he had reminded Kejriwal in the letter about the model code written by the AAP leader regarding the excise policy in his book Swaraj.
"I am bewildered over this issue. This matter should be thoroughly probed till the end and culprits must be punished," Hazare stated.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested the AAP national convenor in an excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday night.
The ED has accused the AAP leader of being "involved in the entire conspiracy of the Delhi liquor scam and eventually using part of the proceeds of crime generated out of the scheduled offence in the election campaign for Goa Assembly election".