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New Delhi: Anna Hazare
Thursday said there is no difference between the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in dealing with corruption and both
are misleading the people on the issue.
"Both parties do not speak on removing corruption," Hazare said in
his letter to Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
The letter came in response to the Congress general secretary's
open letter Tuesday, accusing Hazare of links with the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).
Anna denied any links with the RSS and swore no RSS worker
attended his anti-graft fast at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi in
August.
"You have tried to link me with RSS and BJP. By showing the
dispute between them (Congress and BJP), they are trying to
mislead the people of this country," said Anna.
"You think that by my anti-Congress campaign, the BJP will be
benefited, but why is the Congress giving them (BJP) a chance?" he
asked.
"If RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said his organisation supported my
movement, I think they are trying to defame me," said Hazare.
In his eight-page letter, written in Hindi, the 74-year-old
activist wondered whether Singh was not aware his party was
tainted as it has many corrupt people.
"Today, many Congress leaders are in jail. Was your party unaware
that they were corrupt? But it seems that the party was in the
habit of carrying these corrupt people along. This is the reason
corruption has widely spread in the country," he said.
"In such a situation, there is no difference between the Congress
and any other party," he said.
Stating that he had no wish to be president of India, Hazare said
both the Congress and the BJP appeared to be flying kites on the
issue.
There is a "lack of willingness" in the Congress to bring the Jan
Lokpal bill, he said and added he "derived no pleasure in
agitating repeatedly".
Stating he will not join any party till his last breath, the
activist said there was need for public pressure to strengthen
democracy.
"The public is the owner of this country and sends legislators to
assemblies and the Lok Sabha as its representatives," wrote Hazare.
Observing he had helped Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh chief
minister in social welfare projects, Anna said: "The centre should
not take pride in stating it involved society for the first time
in drafting the Lokpal bill."
In fact, he demanded all welfare laws should be made with people's
involvement.
The activist rued allegations of corruption levelled against him,
his aides Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal and
his arrest ahead of the fast for a strong Jan Lokpal bill in
August.
He also criticised the government for forcibly evicting Swami
Ramdev's hapless protesters earlier.
Referring to BJP leader L.K. Advani's yatra for clean politics and
governance, he said the BJP- and Congress-ruled states should
create strong Lokayuktas to curb corruption.
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