New Delhi:
As veteran anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare gears up for his three-day fast at the MMRDA Ground in Mumbai on December 27, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today launched yet another attack on the Gandhian over his alleged links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Pointing to a report published on the front page of a prominent Hindi daily, Mr Singh said that Mr Hazare had worked as a secretary with RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh and had trained in 1983 in Gonda.
"And he denied any association with RSS! Now whom do we believe Facts with Picture and the claim of RSS or Anna? I am again proved right", tweeted Mr Singh.
However, Anna's supporters, denying Mr Singh's claims, say not much should be read into a photograph. "There is also a photograph of Anna Hazare and Digvijaya Singh together - does this mean that Digvijaya Singh also has links with the RSS? The people of India are wise, they would not read too much into it," said Mayank Gandhi, a member of India Against Corruption.
Also backing Anna, his close aide Kiran Bedi too tweeted: "Does sharing of the dais make one each other's agent? Next time should one sit alone? When two persons share a dais do they become each other's agents?"
The Congress General Secretary has, in the past, accused Mr Hazare of having ties with the saffron organization. He had also alleged that the septuagenarian's successful fast against corruption at the Ramlila Maidan in August this year had the backing of the right-wing group with the latter's members also participating in the event.
Even though Mr Hazare and his associates have vehemently denied this allegation, the RSS itself has acknowledged its support to the activist. In fact, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had, at the organisation's annual Dussehra rally in Nagpur in October said that its volunteers "are already active in all movements against corruption without craving for their own position and credit".
(Read)The Congress, especially Mr Singh, had seized upon this statement as a vindication of their claims. Mr Singh had also sent two letters to Mr Hazare in October offering proof of the latter's links to the RSS.
(Read)The senior Congress leader has been particularly critical of Mr Hazare and his group of activists after they campaigned aggressively against the Congress in the by-poll in Hisar this year. The Gandhian had called upon the people of Hisar to vote against the party. He has also threatened to campaign against the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections in five states next year for not bringing in a "strong" Lokpal Bill.
Digvijaya Singh has constantly crticised Team Anna for being anti-Congress. In an interview to NDTV earlier this week, he had said that even though Mr Hazare was a "well-meaning person", the people surrounding him - Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan - had an "intense dislike for the Congress".
(Watch)