New Delhi:
Social activist Anna Hazare, who successfully led a people's campaign against corruption this month, has written a strong letter to Sonia Gandhi severely criticising top Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Kapil Sibal and suggesting that she advice them "not to derail the process (of drafting a Jan Lok Pal Bill to address the issue of corruption)."
At the core of Anna's letter is the CD controversy involving eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan and a purported conversation between Mr Bhushan and Samajwadi Party leaders. In the letter, Mr Hazare has said the "fabricated CD" is an attempt to tarnish reputations with the objective to divert attention from the Lokpal Bill. And to do this, he says, "corrupt forces have united..."
(Read: Shanti Bhushan files contempt case against Amar Singh)Last week, media offices in Delhi received CDs delivered anonymously. These CDs are of a phone conversation purportedly between Mr Bhushan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Amar Singh, who was a senior Samajwadi Party leader himself till a high-volume falling out with Mr Yadav. On Monday, Shanti Bhushan, who is co-chair of the newly-formed 10-member joint panel, moved Supreme Court seeking criminal contempt action against Amar Singh, accusing him of "fabricating the CD."
(Read: Lokpal Co-Chair in CD controversy)In his letter Anna apparently refers to Digvijaya Singh saying, "One of the General Secretaries of Congress Party has been making many statements in the press in the last one week. I assume that he has the support of the party to make such remarks. Most of these statements are factually wrong, which makes one believe whether his only intention is to create confusion, mislead people and derail the ongoing discussions in joint committee."
(Read: Digvijaya is wrong on money spent during Anna's fast: Kejriwal)Digvijaya Singh had on Saturday said that Rs 50 lakh was spent on Mr Hazare's four-day agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. In his letter Anna says, "They have not even spared me, even though I have lived a simple life following on the path of truth. However, I am happy that despite all their efforts, the vested interests could not dig out anything of substance. This has only raised the reputations of civil society members in the eyes of public," he said.
And then Anna asks Sonia: "Do you personally approve of his statements?"
He also urges her to "advise colleagues", seeming to attack Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal by saying, "A minister indicated at informal meet we had been influenced."
A few hours after Anna Hazare wrote to Sonia Gandhi, Sibal issued a press release denying making any statement about members of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee after its first meeting.
He had held no meeting to debrief or informal meeting with journalists after the official briefing, the release said.
"After the meeting, journalists followed him to his home and sought details about the meeting which he refused to divulge. The statement attributed to him that 'the civil society members have succumbed to Government pressure' is patently false. No such statement was ever made by Mr. Sibal," the release said.
(Read: Sibal refutes Hazare's charges)Sibal also told NDTV, "Now who said what to somebody and how a formal letter has been written making some allegations...they should verify the facts then be a little circumspect because all this does is vitiate the atmosphere and move away from our goal of a Lokpal Bill. Actions of this nature which are a tissue of lies without any basis only help derail the process and we are working together that a strong bill is passed. So I would request those who are persuaded, I don't believe this has been done by the senior civil society member, those who are persuading him to do this must be a little more careful and circumspect before egging him on."
Here is the full text of Anna Hazare's letter to Sonia Gandhi: