Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has once again attacked Gandhian Anna Hazare for his “partisan role” in Haryana's Hisar, where a by-election is due on Thursday.
Mr. Singh warned Mr. Hazare on Tuesday that his image was being “milked by people around him to further their interests and anti-Congress ideology”.
Mr. Singh, in an open letter to Mr. Hazare, asked him whether he was unaware of whom he was aligning with through his call to vote against the Congress. Mr. Hazare should introspect whether his act of standing next to the sons of Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala and the former Haryana Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, was not hurting his movement, given that there were corruption cases pending against them. “If you are seen along with the corrupt in your fight against graft, how will the menace be curbed,” Mr. Singh asked.
Another Congress general secretary, B.K. Hariprasad, has termed Team Anna “the most dangerous outfit,” stressing that their agitation banners should read ‘India Against Congress,' not ‘India Against Corruption.'
Mr. Singh said that an impression was gaining ground that Mr. Hazare was surrounded by people who had always been opposed to the Congress ideology. “Be it Shanti Bhushan or his son, Prashant, or your colleague Arvind Kejriwal — all these people have been opposed to the Congress. These people are taking benefit of your clean character for their own political gains,” he wrote.
While referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's show of support for him, Mr. Singh alleged that Mr. Hazare's statement that he was not aware that the Sangh had extended support to his movement raised questions about his “credibility.”
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had publicly acknowledged — during his Dussehra address in Nagpur — that the Sangh was supporting Mr. Hazare's movement, Mr. Singh wrote. The former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ideologue, K.N. Govindacharya, had also said the same thing earlier, while the RSS had written to its volunteers to support the movement, Mr. Singh said.
“Are you not aware,” Mr. Singh asked in his letter, “that Sangh spokesman Ram Madhav had come to your dais and had extended support to you?” He also points out that during the conclusion of his programme on the Ramlila grounds here, special thanks went to the RSS, and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari.
In an oblique reference to senior BJP leader L.K. Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra, Mr. Singh said BJP leaders, who were now making strong statements on the issue of black money, had done little when they were in power. “That time too, you remained silent.”
