Social activist Anna Hazare has rejected Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s claim that his 2011-2012 India Against Corruption movement received covert support from the BJP and RSS to weaken the then UPA government.
Responding to a question about the claim in Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, Hazare said he had no association with either the BJP or the RSS and did not attend their programmes.
“This is wrong. I don't have any connection with the BJP or RSS. I don't participate in their programmes. My country is my priority,” Hazare said.
In an excerpt from the memoir, Gandhi wrote that the large anti-corruption protests in the capital had caught the UPA coalition off guard and put the government on the defensive.
She described Hazare, whose given name is Baburao, as the figurehead of the movement and said some of its prominent participants had later claimed that the campaign was covertly organised and supported by the BJP and RSS.
Hazare also questioned the suggestion that his agitation was responsible for the Manmohan Singh-led government losing the 2014 election.
“Whatever I do is for my society and country. I don't have anything to do with any party. What is the basis to claim that the Manmohan Singh-led government lost the elections due to my agitation,” he said.
The activist further pointed out that he and Gandhi had never met each other.
“Neither has she seen Anna Hazare, nor have I seen her so far. How appropriate is it to comment on something without even seeing each other,” he said.
Hazare said people in responsible positions should make careful and clear statements. “It is not right to speak in a vague manner. It diminishes that person's image,” he added.
Gandhi’s account of the Lokpal movement
Gandhi’s memoir states that the India Against Corruption campaign attracted substantial public support and left the UPA government on the back foot. The movement demanded the appointment of a Lokpal, or People’s Guardian, with wide-ranging powers to investigate corruption.
According to the account in the book, Hazare was brought to Delhi to begin a hunger strike, after which large crowds gathered in support of the campaign. Gandhi wrote that the government struggled to respond while the BJP mounted an aggressive political campaign.
The memoir also says that the UPA government eventually passed the Lokpal Act. It further alleges that the ombudsman mechanism was systematically sidelined after the BJP came to power in 2014.
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