Anna Hazare tells Arvind Kejriwal not to use his name for politics

NEW DELHI: Team Anna formally split on Wednesday with Anna Hazare announcing his opposition to Arvind Kejriwal's plan to launch a political party, and forbidding the use of his name or photograph for the venture.

The blunt announcement marked a blow to Kejriwal and his colleagues and provoked retaliation in the form of a suggestion that the veteran Gandhian may have been manipulated by opponents of the anti-graft campaign. "Country is on sale," tweeted Kejriwal, who had looked shocked as Hazare announced the formal parting of ways. He also declared that he was sticking to his plan to enter the electoral arena. "The country is passing through a difficult phase. I will do everything possible for me to save my country," he said.


Hazare's announcement came after a last-gasp bid to persuade him to support Kejriwal's political initiative had failed. In a marathon nine- hour meeting, over 40 activists tried all their persuasion skills to get the Gandhian on board. They failed with Hazare insisting on going his own way in defiance of the majority opinion and the "survey" where the respondents, according to Kejriwal, had overwhelmingly endorsed the plan to go political. Hazare dismissed the finding as not a true reflection of people's sentiments.

This was the second time that Hazare had brushed aside the findings of a "survey" that Kejriwal and others had cited to justify their decision to enter politics.

In the meeting, Hazare got support of only a few of the delegates, prominent ones being Justice Santosh Hegde, Kiran Bedi, Medha Patkar and Maharashtra-based activists who often evoked resentment for the outsize influence they allegedly had over the veteran campaigner.

When asked if Team Anna, which had successfully lobbied for the Jan Lokpal bill, had split, Hazare said, "It is our misfortune that the team has split... I didn't want a political party to be formed but if people want then they should go ahead. We will go our separate ways."

On being questioned if he would support the party proposed by Kejriwal and his group, Hazare could not have been more emphatic. "I will not campaign in the election. They should not use my photograph or my name," he said.

Sources said these statements came as a shock even to people who had attended the meeting as it was a sharp departure from the prepared script. Activists had decided that Hazare would assure that both the agitation and the political alternative had his blessings. However, when the activist came outside to respond to media queries, his body language appeared clearly hostile to his erstwhile colleagues.

Sources said a large majority of people in the meeting had supported the idea of forming a political party. The move was opposed by a powerful handful that included Hazare's aides from Maharashtra Avinash Dharmadhikari, Allauddin Sheikh and Vishvambhar Choudhary along with Sitaram Jindal, Bedi, Justice Hegde and Medha Patkar (who sent a note in favour of the agitation and the political movement running parallel to each other).

Hazare refused to accept the survey done by IAC which was overwhelmingly in favour of a political path, saying he did not agree with the exercise done through social networking sites. The IAC had said that 76% people surveyed were in favour of forming a political party.

Bedi, who is opposed to forming a party, tweeted, "Anna finally distances himself from political option. Moves to strengthen the movement. May bring together anti-corruption movements."

There also appeared be discussions in the meeting about Hazare having been exploited by the activists. Giriraj Kishore, an ex-registrar of IIT Kanpur who attended the meeting, said, "A section of those in the meeting said Hazare was exploited by some people in the movement. But this is not true. If Anna has given his name to the movement, people here have made Anna what he is now. They built the image of Anna," he told reporters.