Thin crowd greets Team Anna at Gorakhpur

A day after a slipper was hurled at him in Lucknow, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal addressed a public meeting on graft, in Gorakhpur, which was attended mainly by schoolchildren. HT reports.

A day after a slipper was hurled at him in Lucknow, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal addressed a public meeting on graft, in Gorakhpur, which was attended mainly by schoolchildren.

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"The attack on me is by those who favour corruption and those who termed Anna Hazare a dictator and released a CD for character assassination of Prashant and Shanti Bhushan," said Kejriwal on Wednesday at the thinly attended meeting, a part of Team Anna's Uttar Pradesh tour that began in Banda on October 17.

Kejriwal said he feared more such attacks on Team Anna, but that he did not want security.

Earlier in the day, after waiting for three hours before Team Anna arrived, the children welcomed the team by forming a human chain. "The battle against corruption has entered a crucial phase and that is why some forces are trying to create differences among team members," said Kejriwal.

On Rajendra Singh and PV Rajagopal leaving the team, Kejriwal said, "We will talk on the issue later", before warning the Congress of concerted action if it did not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session of Parliament.

He, however, added the team was neither pro-BJP nor anti-Congress. At one point Kejriwal admitted Team Anna was in politics, but was quick to add, "We are not in electoral politics".

Slipper-thrower loses job
Jitendra Pathak, 33, who threw a slipper at Kejriwal on Tuesday, lost his job on Wednesday. Ansh Project Service, a city-based construction company in which he was employed, served the termination letter on Pathak, who appeared unmoved.