Anna Hazare not to attend Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in
Ralegan Siddhi (Maha), Feb 11: Anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of his former protege and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday despite Delhi's chief minister-elect personally extending an invitation to him.
Hazare's aide Dadda Awari said Kejriwal had telephoned Hazare yesterday following AAP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections and invited him for the oath-taking function at Ramlila Maidan, the venue of the 77-year-old Gandhian's fast for Lokpal in 2011.
"Kejriwal called Anna yesterday and requested him to attend the swearing-in but he expressed his inability...Anna extended his best wishes to Kejriwal for running a good government," Awari told PTI.
Hazare
is
in
Pune
today
for
a
routine
health
check-up,
Awari
said
without
elaborating
on
whether
any
health
issues
prevented
him
from
attending
the
event.
Hazare
had
also
skipped
Kejriwal's
swearing-in
ceremony
when
he
became
Delhi
chief
minister
for
the
first
time
in
2013.
After a long association in the anti-corruption movement, the two drifted apart when Kejriwal decided to launch his political outfit Aam Aadmi Party against Hazare's wishes.
Though Hazare has often called party politics a "cesspool", he had yesterday congratulated Kejriwal on AAP's stupendous success.
PTI