New Delhi:
While Anna Hazare has made no secret of his displeasure with Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of splitting the anti-corruption movement by opting to enter politics, the latter has so far said little, refusing to retaliate.
Mr Hazare, in his latest attack on Mr Kejriwal that appeared in his blog post on Friday, had slammed the faction led by the latter for going against his will. The 75-year-old activist said that the movement against graft led by the erstwhile Team Anna was not divided in the past two years despite the best efforts of the UPA government. But, the group, he said, had now split even without the government having to put in any effort as one faction wanted to take the electoral route, the reference to Mr Kejriwal being more than obvious.
But NDTV has learnt that the Kejriwal-led group has decided to not react over the incident. Sources say that according to the faction, politics has not impacted the movement. On the contrary, according to the breakaway faction, the rift - which has in the recent times made for Anna vs Arvind headlines - has negatively impacted the campaign against graft, sources say.
In the course of the last few days, Mr Hazare has openly delinked himself and then denounced Arvind Kejriwal's plans of floating a political party to combat the government in its fight against corruption. As both decided to go their separate ways, Mr Hazare has been increasingly critical of Mr Kejriwal, once considered to be his right-hand man. "Unfortunately, the movement has split even before we got the Bill. One wants to go political and the other wants to keep the movement alive," the Gandhian has said in his latest blog. But Mr Kejriwal, a former bureaucrat, has refused to retaliate; he has, in fact, praised the septuagenarian of being a guiding light in his new endeavour. On September 23, during an agitation in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal had said that he hopes Mr Hazare would be back with him in another "three-four months" if he could work honestly in politics.
Sources say that according to the pro-Kejriwal group, entering the political fray would enable it to fight for a strong Lokpal (national ombudsman), which the UPA government, it says, has no intention of turning into law.
NDTV has also learnt that despite Mr Hazare's recent remarks, the camp led by Arvind Kejriwal, which also includes Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia among others, is unlikely to react. In fact, sources say that the team is focused on launching their political party with plans, on October 2, to share suggestions sent to them from people across the country regarding the name of the proposed party as also its constitution.
Mr Hazare has emphatically declared that he would not form a political party or join any other political group. "For the last 20 years, I have been part of civil society movement and in future also I will remain so. We have parted ways but our goal is the same," he has said in his latest blog post.