Anna and Kejriwal fight: A useless charade

The stories of fallout between anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his disciple and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal are like open secrets. They all started the moment Kejriwal decided to form a party and fight elections.

In Anna’s own words, Kejriwal was “greedy” for power. He had issued a statement which read: “Earlier I used to think that Arvind is into selfless service. But I don’t understand how this thought of entering politics came into his mind.”

Kejriwal kept trying to make him understand that entering into politics was the best way to serve the people as they will have the mandate to do so after they win the election. But for his guru Anna, it was not enough.

It was in the news for quite some time that Anna was quite displeased with the news of AAP misusing his name and Kejriwal trying to humbly pacify him calling it an act of conspiracy by his adversaries who were filling Anna’s ears with dirt to widen the rift between them.

Yesterday too, a press conference by arranged by AAP for disclosing Anna’s letter to Kejriwal and clear all the air in the media. But the limelight was taken by a man who threw black ink on Kejriwal and his party members Manish Sisodia and Prashant Bhushan.

The man identified himself as Nachiketa, an IAC volunteer and BJP member. He shouted slogans against AAP and Kejriwal and accused the latter of misusing Anna’s name for his own political gains.

The matter was so heated up that Anna today issued another statement in the media saying that he and Kejriwal were not “enemy”. “We are not enemies…I did not know he wanted to talk to me. I am ready to talk to Arvind Kejriwal,” Anna briefed media in Ralegan Siddhi.

Clarifying on the letter he wrote to Kejriwal, Hazare said: “I was told that SIM cards were issued in my name during the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, the sale of which led to collection of funds. I have no connection in this regard.”

“Since I felt my name was being misused, so I wrote the letter seeking a clarification. I have no interest in the money, just my name should not be misused.”

Replying to this, Kejriwal retorted in Delhi that “intermediaries, middlemen” were not allowing him to talk to his guru Anna. He also said that he had requested Anna “to conduct a through probe by anyone he wants like Justice (retd) Santosh Hedge or anyone else”. He also demanded that the report of the same should be made public within 48 hours so that neither Congress nor BJP could raise suspicion over funds.

Kejriwal had further added that if found guilty, he would not contest elections. “But if I come clean, then Anna Hazare will have to come and campaign for our party,” he put forth the condition.

It is to be noted that Anna garnered high support during the anti-corruption days. But when AAP came into being, the Anna led anti-corruption wave died because a more practical solution was in front of the people who took part in the movement.

Misusing Anna’s name may be an issue but it does not have any significance because Anna’s chela Kejriwal has not got a bigger fan following. He has been doing all the right things to win the trust of the janata and the recent poll surveys prove that he does not need Anna’s name anymore for mobilizing people.

The fight between Anna and Kejriwal is not helping people in any way. It is not even giving credibility to the conspiracy theory spun by AAP against its rival. Instead the adversaries are growing stronger and enjoying the show.

It is high time that Anna understands always humble Kejriwal’s position and the latter starts making sound conversation with him.