Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday blamed the saffron camp for social activist Anna Hazare's searing two-page letter to him where the Gandhian said the AAP boss had forgotten his principles and was “drunk on power”.
Hitting out at the BJP for calling the national capital's liquor policy a scam, Kejriwal said the saffron party is using Hazare as a shooting launchpad. “Ab yeh Anna Hazare ji ke kandhe pe rakh ke bandukh chala rahe hain,” the chief minister told reporters.
“They (BJP) have been saying there's a scam in the liquor policy, but the CBI said there's no scam. Public is not listening to them,” Kejriwal was quoted as saying by ANI.
The AAP supremo said that using an individual as a platform the way BJP is doing with Hazare is “common in politics”.
The Gandhian activist, who once considered Kejriwal a close aide before snapping ties with him, continued his attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor while speaking to reporters hours after news of his letter to the Delhi CM came to light. Hazare said the AAP chief opened a liquor shop in “every ward” of Delhi and also reduced the age limit to consume alcohol from 25 to 21.
{{/usCountry}}The Gandhian activist, who once considered Kejriwal a close aide before snapping ties with him, continued his attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor while speaking to reporters hours after news of his letter to the Delhi CM came to light. Hazare said the AAP chief opened a liquor shop in “every ward” of Delhi and also reduced the age limit to consume alcohol from 25 to 21.
{{/usCountry}}“He's promoting liquor. I felt against it and so for the first time, I wrote to him. When I was protesting, he used to call me his 'guru', where are those emotions now?” Hazare asked.
In his letter, Hazare said the Delhi excise policy indicates the AAP is “also walking the same path taken by other parties”. “It is very sad,” he added.
The social activist, whose relationship with Kejriwal got strained after the latter chose to form a political party, further wrote that the CM “appears to be in the vicious circle of money though power and power through money”.
“After becoming the chief minister, you have forgotten about the Lokpal and Lokayukta, which were at the centre of the anti-corruption movement. In the assembly, you have not even once tried to bring in place a strong Lokayukta. Now your government has brought in a policy which will ruin lives, and affect women too,” the 85-year-old activist further wrote.