The rainbow team of Anna Hazare is showing signs of falling apart. Presumably, to put a lid on the squabbles breaking out in the team, Hazare has decided not to give further clarifications. If sources are to be believed, he is planning a maun vrat (silent fast). However, team members say this would only be for the media and Hazare would speak to members whenever they call him.
Last week, the team was shaken when an interview of Anna Hazare, published in a foreign newspaper, quoted him as saying he did not agree with the views of Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal on economic policies. Last Sunday, the team issued a clarification saying the interview had distorted Anna’s words.
Two days later, it was time for a fresh clarification.
Prashant Bhushan was attacked for his comments on Kashmir and, after a day’s silence, both Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal made public their strong differences with Bhushan on the same.
The following day, the core team of India Against Corruption (IAC) met and came out with a statement against Bhushan’s view on Kashmir.
Bhushan had left for the US for a conference. If all this looked like a conspiracy against him, the meeting was held at his father and team member (also, former BJP minister) Shanti Bhushan’s house and the statement released was to the satisfaction of all concerned, said a member who attended the meeting.
Arvind Kejriwal, the team’s other pillar, has just been admonished by fellow member Santosh Hegde for speaking too much. This was with reference to Kejriwal’s remark that Anna was above Parliament.
Devinder Sharma, a core team member, said people in the team were from diverse backgrounds and it was not possible for them to echo each other. There would be differences, he said. The movement has had a single agenda till now: to fight corruption. And, all were together on that, he added.
Illustrating his point, he said it was possible that many members supported genetically modified (GM) crops, to which he was opposed. But, that wouldn’t mean the team would split, he said, adding that maintaining silence was the golden strategy to prevent distortion of views by the media. Sharma said he was not aware of Anna’s maun vrat and added it might be only for the media.
The team also denies that Hazare’s decision to launch his Lok Pal campaign for UP after the winter session was a change of stance. It had always been planned like this, said IAC spokesperson Ashwati Muralidharan.
