Anna Hazare turns down BJP request for anti-AAP protest
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to Hazare asking him to join a BJP-led agitation alleging the AAP government in Delhi has become the “new name of social, political and economic corruption”.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday turned down Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta’s request to join the party in a “mass movement” against the Aam Aadmi Party government.
Gupta, on August 24, wrote to Hazare asking him to join a BJP-led agitation alleging the AAP government in Delhi has become the “new name of social, political and economic corruption”.
In his letter, posted on his Facebook profile on Friday, the 83-year-old criticised the BJP for doing little to deliver on its promise of “corruption-free India”.
Hazare said he felt “sorry” reading Gupta’s letter, writing that there “can’t be anything more unfortunate” that a party [BJP] which claims to be the largest political party in the world is calling an “83-year-old man, living in a 10x12 feet room in a temple, with no money or (political) power” to join their movement.
Hazare, who along with Arvind Kejriwal (now Delhi chief minister) and others started the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement in 2011, wrote, “It is your government at the Centre. A lot of Delhi issues are under the central government. CBI, Economic Offence (Wing), vigilance, Delhi police are under the Centre’s control. The Prime Minister has always said that his government has taken tough action to eradicate corruption. If the Delhi government is corrupt, then why is it that your government is not taking any action against them? Or is it that the Centre’s claims to eradicate corruption are hollow claims?”
Gupta issued a statement, in which he said, “Anna Hazare ji had organised a mass movement against corruption in Delhi in 2011 and the AAP, born from the same movement, is steeped in corruption today. In this context, the BJP had requested him to give his support. He himself has admitted that he has always been protesting against corruption and will take part in the fight against corruption in future. The BJP is committed and capable to fight every battle against corruption. We request those who have been fighting against corruption to join this movement.”
When contacted, AAP refused to comment.
Sanjay Kumar, director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), said the BJP tried to use Hazare to give legitimacy to its anti-corruption campaign. “But the move backfired. Hazare had distanced himself from AAP after the latter’s victory in assembly elections in 2015. The BJP, I think, tried to use him as a symbol to start their anti-corruption campaign. It would have given legitimacy to their campaign given that Hazare is an anti-corruption crusader. But BJP needs to understand that unlike 2015, AAP won the recent assembly elections because of the work it has done in its first tenure.”