Hazare congratulates Pranab even as team attacks ministers

NEW DELHI: Activist Anna Hazare set the tone for Day 2 of the agitation on Thursday by congratulating President Pranab Mukherjee, hitting a discordant note with his fellow colleagues who had targeted him the previous day. 

However, the activists targeted five Cabinet ministers including NCP leader Sharad Pawar, former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, urban development minister Kamal Nath, law minister Salman Khurshid and external affairs minister S M Krishna, leveling allegations of corruption and demanding investigation on the charges. 

Responding to the criticism, parliamentary affairs minister Pavan Kumar Bansal told TOI that while raising demand for Lokpal bill was legitimate, putting pressure on Parliament was anti-thesis of democracy. 

"It is wrong to say that fasting is part of Indian tradition of protests. Mahatma Gandhi was fighting a colonial power while today it is the people's government. Parliament represents 120 crore people," Bansal said. 

Asked about the allegations raised by Team Anna against him, Hazare refused to answer saying, "I do not want to speak about it." His remarks came at a time when his team has levelled serious allegations against Mukherjee, who was sworn in as president on Wednesday. 

Hazare appeared to have prevailed on the team to desist from attacking the constitutional office and Mukherjee's photograph, which was part of the backdrop at the protest site, was masked. 

Significantly, Hazare in his address said the government should not try to break his group. 

Team Anna reserved its choicest barbs for Khurshid, saying he was making false claims when the minister said that all allegations made by Team Anna had been rejected by the Supreme Court. Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan said the government was turning a "blind eye to corporate corruption''. 

However, Bansal reacted sharply to barbs made against Mukherjee. "They have arrogated to themselves the power to give verdicts or certificates to anyone. They are trying to stoke anti-establishment feeling among people so that there is no faith left in any of the institutions,'' he said. 

"The result of such agitations can be dangerous. If there was a dictatorial government, do you think Team Anna would have been able to agitate? The solutions lie in Parliament, supported by think tanks outside. Let them sensitize people and start a movement to change mindsets so that people have zero tolerance to graft," Bansal said. 

Incidentally, academician Yogendra Yadav, who was forced to resign as NCERT's textbook advisor following the Ambedkar cartoon row, also took a swipe at the establishment. While expressing confidence in the PM's integrity, Yadav said, "While I respect the PM and believe in his personal integrity, I wonder what I can do with that honesty that turns a blind eye to corruption around him?"