Split in Team Anna: Two core committee members quit
Lucknow: In the second attack on a key Team Anna member in a week, a man threw a slipper at Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday when the social activist was proceeding for an event here as part of their anti-corruption campaign.
The slipper attack was condemned as unacceptable and unfortunate by Team Anna and political parties with Anna Hazare saying he is not deterred by the incident and that his group is ready to face ‘bullets’ to eradicate graft.
The man identified as Jitendra Pathak of Jalaun district hurled the chappal at Kejriwal after he alighted from a vehicle and was about to reach the dais at Jhulelal park.
The man, who was stated to be around 40 years, claimed that he was not associated with any party. He was quickly overpowered and allegedly roughed up by volunteers before being rescued and detained by the police in a temple within the park vicinity. He has been taken under preventive custody.
Team Anna core committee member Sanjay Singh told reporters that Kejriwal had “pardoned” his attacker.
Prashant Bhushan, a key member, was attacked by members of a right-wing group in his Supreme Court chambers On October 12, allegedly over his remarks advocating plebiscite in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, in fresh turmoil in Team Anna, two prominent activists PV Rajagopal and ‘Waterman’ Rajinder Singh on Tuesday quit its core committee objecting to the movement taking a “political turn” and claimed that it was mired in confusion.
The decision to launch anti-Congress campaign in Hisar, which both claimed was not taken by the core committee, appeared to be one of the reasons for these activists to quit the panel, though Raja-gopal says that the Team was “putting pressure” on him not to do so.
“I dissociate with the Team. The Team is turning political. There were statements indicating that including that on Hisar,” Singh said. Rajagopal wrote to core committee convenor Arvind Kejriwal about his decision while Singh said he did not feel the need to write any such letter. (PTI)