Congress, BJP slam Aam Aadmi Party over Anna Hazare CD; Arvind Kejriwal upset
A video showing anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare purportedly expressing disappointment over the alleged misuse by Aam Aadmi Party of funds collected during the Jan Lokpal Bill drive today had Congress and BJP both tearing into Arvind Kejriwal and group ahead of Assembly elections in Delhi.
"CD released of Anna's allegation against Kejriwal of misappropriation of funds collected at Ramlila Maidan again proves my allegation! Would Kejriwal and his friends on Social Media please react", Congress leader Digvijay Singh said on micro-blogging site twitter.com.
Neither did BJP pull any punches in attacking Kejriwal with party spokesman Praksah Javadekar saying that, "We are not interested in knowing the details (about the money)... but it seems Anna is not happy.
"(Anna is saying that) money collected in his name is being misused for electioneering. This has actually exposed AAP and brought out its hypocrisy," he added.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal, for his part, said that he was "very, very sad" over the video even as Hazare came forward to clarify that there was no "tiff" between himself and the AAP convener — only differences of opinion which could be sorted.
"The picture is painted as if there is a tiff between myself and Arvind, as if I have accused him.
"That is wrong, this is not an accusation, there are differences of opinion and we are trying to sort them out," he said.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal told reporters that he was "very, very sad after seeing the video, which surfaced yesterday. I could have made crores from the job I left. I have only earned honesty in my life".
The video presented AAP's rivals in the Delhi Assembly elections with ammunition against Kejriwal and his aides and both Congress and BJP used it to level allegations at the party which is getting ready for its first poll outing.
Singh, the Congress General Secretary, said, "If you see my tweets and statements at the time, I had clearly said that it is all a process to make money.
"An innocent man like Hazare is being duped by them. This has been proved that the money made from people during the whole movement has been used by AAP," he said.
Speaking separately, Congress spokesman Meem Afzal said that the CD had "exposed" Kejriwal and company and showed "not only the misappropriation of funds but also the corruption of ideology".
Afzal even alleged that AAP was working in tandem with BJP as the main opposition party in Delhi Assembly had been backing Hazare's movement.
"At a time when there is much controversy over the incident of blackening of Kejriwal's face, his guru has blackened his face by expressing disappointment over the misuse of funds," he added.
The CD, Afzal alleged, showed that Hazare had been raising the issue of funds to the tune of Rs 3 crore with Kejriwal for the last one year. The video emerged a day after Hazare sought answers from Kejriwal over the "misuse" of his name.
The video recording of a closed-door meeting in December 2012 shows Anna saying he was disappointed the way Rs 3 crore, collected in his name during the Lokpal agitation, was misused.
Reacting to the accusations, AAP said that the video was around a year old and was an effort by political rivals to malign its image.
"I would be surprised if filthier things do not happen. In the next 48-72 hours, more such things are bound to happen because, you see, we are out to challenge some huge vested interests," said AAP leader Yogendra Yadav.