Anna Hazare on Monday accused the government of attempting to “defame” Kiran Bedi, and alleged that a “Gang of Four” within the Congress was attempting to break up his team of anti-corruption activists.
In his first reaction since The Indian Express published, four days ago, details of how Bedi bought discounted airline tickets but submitted inflated invoices to claim full fare and, at times, Business Class reimbursement, Hazare wrote on his blog that people accusing Bedi “of being involved in air-travel corruption” are actually opposed to the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Bedi has “time and again made it clear that if she has used the money for the benefit of her family then the government should take help of one of its inquiry agencies and if found guilty should take stringent actions against her”, Hazare wrote in his post, titled ‘Rise and fight against Gang of Four!’.
“But the government doesn’t seem forthcoming in taking such a step. To accuse and humiliate seems to be the mantra of the few. This is not the first time that such accusations have been leveled against Kiran Bedi. Every member of `Team Anna’ had to face accusations and character assassination by the ‘gang of four’. Who are these people? Those are the very same people who are not in favor of Janlokpal Bill.”
The Gang of Four, Hazare said, had accused Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan “on the CD issue” with the intention of spreading “dissension in Team Anna” and “misconceptions among people”. They were responsible, he said, for lathicharging women and children at Baba Ramdev’s rally, for arresting him before his proposed fast, for leveling allegations against Justice Santosh Hegde, and for the slipper attack on Arvind Kejriwal.
“Why do people stoop to so such low level? They have their own reasons. They are afraid if Janlokpal Bill is passed they will be stripped off their power. They will no longer be able to take bribe. Hence under any circumstances they will see to it that the Janlokpal Bill as a law does not come into existence. They will keep blaming Team Anna so they can go on doing corruption,” Hazare wrote.
He did not clarify who the ‘Gang of Four’ were.
However, the “righteous” were in a majority in the government, Hazare said, and hoped they would ultimately prevail over the “gang”, whom he likened to “goons”.
“The number of Ministers who are opposing Janlokpal Bill in Cabinet is handful. It is similar to a village where there are 2 to 4 goons who hold the entire village to ransom. In government there is a majority of people who are righteous but can’t go against these ruffians. Leaving aside these specific 4 to 6 people no one points a finger at us,” he wrote.
Hazare announced he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking that the “draft for the Janlokpal Bill to be passed should be put on the internet”. If the Bill is not passed in winter session, Hazare said, he would tour the states going to polls. He asked people to write to PM and Sonia Gandhi demanding the Jan Lokpal — “from all over India 35 to 40 lakh resolutions should reach the government”.
Source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anna-backs-bedi-says-gangof-four-def.../864992/
In his first reaction since The Indian Express published, four days ago, details of how Bedi bought discounted airline tickets but submitted inflated invoices to claim full fare and, at times, Business Class reimbursement, Hazare wrote on his blog that people accusing Bedi “of being involved in air-travel corruption” are actually opposed to the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Bedi has “time and again made it clear that if she has used the money for the benefit of her family then the government should take help of one of its inquiry agencies and if found guilty should take stringent actions against her”, Hazare wrote in his post, titled ‘Rise and fight against Gang of Four!’.
“But the government doesn’t seem forthcoming in taking such a step. To accuse and humiliate seems to be the mantra of the few. This is not the first time that such accusations have been leveled against Kiran Bedi. Every member of `Team Anna’ had to face accusations and character assassination by the ‘gang of four’. Who are these people? Those are the very same people who are not in favor of Janlokpal Bill.”
The Gang of Four, Hazare said, had accused Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan “on the CD issue” with the intention of spreading “dissension in Team Anna” and “misconceptions among people”. They were responsible, he said, for lathicharging women and children at Baba Ramdev’s rally, for arresting him before his proposed fast, for leveling allegations against Justice Santosh Hegde, and for the slipper attack on Arvind Kejriwal.
“Why do people stoop to so such low level? They have their own reasons. They are afraid if Janlokpal Bill is passed they will be stripped off their power. They will no longer be able to take bribe. Hence under any circumstances they will see to it that the Janlokpal Bill as a law does not come into existence. They will keep blaming Team Anna so they can go on doing corruption,” Hazare wrote.
He did not clarify who the ‘Gang of Four’ were.
However, the “righteous” were in a majority in the government, Hazare said, and hoped they would ultimately prevail over the “gang”, whom he likened to “goons”.
“The number of Ministers who are opposing Janlokpal Bill in Cabinet is handful. It is similar to a village where there are 2 to 4 goons who hold the entire village to ransom. In government there is a majority of people who are righteous but can’t go against these ruffians. Leaving aside these specific 4 to 6 people no one points a finger at us,” he wrote.
Hazare announced he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking that the “draft for the Janlokpal Bill to be passed should be put on the internet”. If the Bill is not passed in winter session, Hazare said, he would tour the states going to polls. He asked people to write to PM and Sonia Gandhi demanding the Jan Lokpal — “from all over India 35 to 40 lakh resolutions should reach the government”.
Source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anna-backs-bedi-says-gangof-four-def.../864992/
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