Social activist Anna Hazare interacts with the media during a function in New Delhi on Friday
Anna Hazare has revealed why he stood up Mamata Banerjee at a widely-publicised joint rally in Delhi on Wednesday. "There were not even 4,000 people there," the Gandhian activist on Friday said, calling it "betrayal."
Mamata Banerjee was left addressing the rally on her own after Anna Hazare failed to show up at the Ramlila grounds, the site where he had launched his anti-corruption campaign in 2011, along with former protege Arvind Kejriwal.
The 76-year-old today said, "The time of the rally was 12 noon. But when I checked at 1 pm, then again at 2 pm, not even 4000 people had arrived and they are calling me. This was a dhoka (betrayal)." He also said that while he supported Mamata Banerjee, he did not support her party.
After being forced to brave a solo act to largely empty chairs, a deeply embarrassed Mamata had said that the event was Anna's and not organized by her party; she had come only because the activist had invited her.
"I came despite my busy schedule, because I had made a promise," the West Bengal Chief Minister said, admitting that she was told only on her arrival at the venue that Anna was "unwell." Her party leader Mukul Roy even went to the Maharashtra Sadan to try and persuade Anna into joining the rally.
Anna blamed one of his aides for treachery. "I am telling you all... Santosh Bharti has cheated me," he said.
But the aide hit back at the crusader. "If there were not too many people there, like Anna is saying that he didn't go because there weren't too many people, then who is at fault?," Mr Bharti said.
The Trinamool has reacted cautiously to Anna's outburst on poor crowds.
"Our leader gave a very gracious comment and didn't blame anyone. We are not disappointed. We were informed by him a few minutes before the rally that he wasn't feeling well. We believed it," Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien told NDTV. "Now it's time to look ahead."
Anna recently overcame his aversion to supporting political parties and said he would campaign for Mamata as she was a rare, simple politician who deserved to be the country's Prime Minister.
However, the Anna-Mamata relationship is now shrouded in mystery. The two were supposed to address a joint rally at Ahmedabad on March 20. But that is now up in the air.