Prove corporates are behind agitation: Hazare to Thackeray

Ralegan Siddhi (Maha), Jun 24: Taking strong exception to Bal Thackeray's allegation that that his anti- corruption agitation was funded by corporates, social activist Anna Hazare has challenged the Shiv Sena supremo to prove the charges against him.

"Name the corporate. Prove the allegation and I will become your slave for a lifetime but do not make baseless statements," Hazare said after his arrival from New Delhi yesterday.

"Why do I need corporates? And if there is one, name it, that this corporate helped you. (If that is the case), I will become your slave for life. But stop making hollow claims. It is not right to accuse and defame someone," he added.

Thackeray, talking to reporters recently, had wondered as to how Hazare's current anti-corruption campaign would have sustained in the absence of support from the Corporate world. He, however, did not name any corporate house.

Referring to Thackeray's remarks about his frequent plane journeys and the money spent on it, the Gandhian said, "This expenditure is borne by the government to facilitate my attendance for the Lokpal bill drafting meetings."

Stating that he practised a frugal lifestyle, Hazare said "I take just one meal in a day. I do not drink tea or coffee or cold drinks."

A bachelor, Hazare lives in a room in the precincts of a temple in his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra''s Ahmednagar district.

Casting aspersions over the Government's resolve to pass the Lokpal Bill, Hazare said "If you really wanted to pass the Lokpal Bill, then it came before Parliament many times in the 42 years but could not be passed."

PTI