Unease in Team Anna; Hazare hints at revamp

New Delhi, Oct 28: Anna Hazare today (Oct 28) hinted at expansion of his Core Committee as a sense of unease gripped his team over allegations of financial misconduct by some of its key members.

The core committee of Team Anna will be expanded soon, journalist Raju Parulekar, who is Hazare's official blogger, said as two key member Medha Patkar and Kumar Vishwas demanded "overhaul" of the Core Committee.

He, however, declined to go into details of when and how the revamp will take place. The thinking on reconstituting the team comes ahead of the crucial meeting of the Core Committee in nearby Ghaziabadon Saturday which will not be attended by Hazare, who is on a vow of silence from October 16.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of a series of allegations against key members like Kejriwal and Bedi as well as resignation of two prominent activists Rajinder Singh and P V Rajagopal citing the political turn taken by Hazare's anti-corruption movement.

Parulekar also said Hazare is contemplating forming a pan-India apolitical organisation to achieve his objective of a change in whole electoral system. "The new outfit would aim at not playing the game of election but to change the rule of the game of election," Parulekar said adding "it will be an apolitical organisation."

Though Patkar and Vishwas did not criticise Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, who are facing flak over the running of their NGOs and their financial integrity being questioned, they have referred to the allegations faced by the Core Committee members.

"I don't think there is a difference of opinion. The only thing is a bit of overhauling is certainly becoming necessary because there are a number of allegations and Core Committee members are being targeted," Patkar, who will not be attending tomorrow's meeting due to prior engagement, said. Another prominent member Santosh Hegde will also not attend the meeting.

PTI