Noida:
The activists who work closest with Gandhian Anna Hazare are meeting in Noida near Delhi today to plan their campaign for the Lokpal Bill, the new legislation aimed at tackling corruption among government servants. But their strategy session is eclipsed by reports of rifts both within Team Anna, and with yoga icon Baba Ramdev, with whom they are collaborating for their movement against graft.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal denied before the session that he was upset with Baba Ramdev at a rally held in Delhi on Sunday. Mr Kejriwal raised allegations of corruption against 14 senior ministers, whose names he listed. Baba Ramdev immediately told the audience, gathered in 45 degree heat, that he does not think any individuals should be named in the campaign. Mr Kejriwal left the venue soon after. His exit was followed by emphatic denials of a rift, issued on twitter by Mr Kejriwal and other Anna aides like Kiran Bedi.
Team Anna member, Justice Santosh Hegde, who last week said that he disagreed with the allegations against the PM and ministers like Mr Krishna, also said today that there are no differences within the core group.
Earlier this month, Team Anna went public with allegations of corruption against the PM and senior ministers including Pranab Mukherjee and SM Krishna, provoking criticism from even the BJP, which has supported their movement in the past. The Prime Minister took on Team Anna with strong words, vowing to resign if "even an iota of truth" was found in their allegations.
Mr Kejriwal's allegations against the PM are based on an alleged coal scam that took place between 2006 and 2009. Mr Kejriwal says that the PM, who was then in charge of the Coal Ministry, abused his position to allow private players to be allotted coal fields at under-market prices. The Anna aide says that the PM over-ruled advice to auction the coal fields. A preliminary report by the government's auditor, CAG, finds that the lack of an auction may have cost the country upto 1.8 lakh crores in losses. The Prime Minister's Office has denied all reports of a breakdown in process - it said that coal fields were allotted to develop industry and infrastructure in keeping with the existing guidelines at that time. Revenue was not the primary objective, Dr Singh's office stressed.