Agra:
Digvijaya Singh has stirred another controversy, this time again for his remarks on anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. The senior Congress leader has said he has "heard that BJP has told Anna Hazare that he could be the all-party candidate for the 2012 President's election."
Digvijaya Singh was speaking in Agra. His remarks came after Team Anna launched a blistering attack on the Congress ahead of the October 13 Lok Sabha bypoll in Hisar, asking voters to inflict a "historic defeat" on the party for not bringing the Jan Lokpal Bill.
"I don't know how far it is true, but I have heard that BJP has told Anna Hazare that he could be the all-party candidate for the 2012 President's election. It is for Anna Hazare to tell us if anything like this has been proposed to him since he always says that he is not a political person," Digvijaya Singh said.
Lashing out at Team Anna for asking people to vote against Congress, the party General Secretary had earlier said, "If Anna Hazare wants to get into politics, he should form his own party".
Digvijaya also referred to an RSS statement claiming that it was part of Anna Hazare's movement. "If Anna Hazare demanded that I should be sent to a mental asylum when I alleged the RSS hand...now that RSS itself is saying that they supported Anna Hazare...then now Anna should also accompany me to the mental asylum. Check-ups should be done on both of us."
Gandhian activist Anna had dismissed the RSS claim saying, "Nobody approached me. Not a single RSS worker met me or approached me. How are they saying this? I don't know."
Urging voters to inflict "historic defeat" on Congress in Hisar, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday that Anna has sat on a fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill twice, but the Congress-led UPA government was yet to bring it in Parliament.
"You will have to inflict a historic defeat on the Congress. If you defeat the party (in the bypoll), this will be Anna's victory," he told the gathering.
Alleging that the Congress and corruption were synonymous, Mr Kejriwal asked people to defeat corrupt forces.
He also claimed that Congress was afraid to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill as it fears "half of its own ministers will land up in jail".
He said if the bill is not passed soon, Team Anna would intensify its campaign against the Congress in the five poll-bound states including Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Kejriwal has, however, clarified that Team Anna has no intention to enter party politics. "Some people are saying we are doing politics. We have been saying right since the very beginning that we are doing politics, but we are not doing party politics or election politics. We are into the politics of people. We want the people of this country to have power. They are into the politics of corruption and lies; we are into politics of truth and people," he said.