Anna core group not to be dismantled

The Anna group also reiterated that if the government failed to pass the anti-corruption ombudsman bill in the winter session, they would unleash a big movement.

The announcement by the key members- the trio of Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhusan- together after a crucial meeting of the core committee, which was not attended by Anna Hazare owing to his vow of silence, was aimed at putting up a united face of the group.

"We have passed resolutions which say that the movement is of crores of people under the leadership of Anna Hazare. In the core committee every member played a major role. There is no question of dismantling the core committee," said Kejriwal.

He said the government is trying to tarnish their image by using the state machinery.

"We will reply strongly and we will not allow the attention to deviate from Jan Lokpal Bill," Kejriwal said.

He said the core committee supports the decision to campaign against the Congress in the Hisar polls and the same practice would continue.

"We are not against Congress. Hisar was a challenge that any party not supporting Lokpal will face consequences. It was only Congress which did not commit to the Lokpal in Hisar," he said.
"It was a successful decision and we will stick to it. After Hisar on Oct 10 the PM gave a letter of assurance, we hoped it had come before the polls," said Kejriwal.

He said: "We appeal to the government from the core committee to pass the law in the winter session. It they do not, in five states in the coming assembly polls we would repeat the same campaign."

He also said that all account details of funds to Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF) - an NGO run by Kejriwal- were available on the website of the movement.

Kejriwal said he and Prashant Bhusan would leave for the village of Anna since he being on a vow of silence could not attend the core committee meeting.

He said all members who attended the core committee on Saturday unanimously supported their decisions.

He said that Anna movement members like PV Rajagopal and Kumar Viswas should have not gone to media to air their grievances.

Kerjiwal said they respect people like Rajagopal a lot and if he is aggrieved then there might have been some mistake on their part (Bedi and Kejriwal were called arrogant) which they would like to correct if told.

Prashant Bhusan said there is always scope for strengthening the movement with new people, but there was no question of dismantling the core committee and all decided to stay together to ward off the attacks by the government.

With the recent developments taking place in Anna Hazare’s team, the core committee meeting was crucial.

Anna Hazare group is battling differences of opinions within its own house.

Core member Kumar Vishwas in a letter to Anna Hazare had requested him to reconstitute the core team amid growing differences over the roles of some members calling the shots.

He in his letter in Hindi said the ruling party is targetting some members on personal front and it can harm the real movement.

Anna group member Kiran Bedi recently was caught in an unsavoury controversy over charging for Business Class after travelling Economy Class though she defended herself saying the money saved was used for social work.

Key member Arvind Kejriwal was also embroiled in a pending Income Tax payment controversy, while Prashant Bhusan's views of Kashmir and an attack on him by a right wing group also brought embarrassment to the Anna group image.