Social activist Anna Hazare said on Tuesday that he hopes another Arvind Kejriwal does not emerge from his movement, when he launches an agitation on March 23, PTI reported.
Hazare had said last month that he would begin the agitation afresh against the agrarian crisis in the country and to demand the implementation of the Lokpal Act. March 23 marks the anniversary of the hanging of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev during the British rule in 1931.
Addressing a public meeting in Agra on Tuesday, Hazare urged farmers to join his rally in New Delhi on March 23. “I hope no Kejriwal comes out of my movement again,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Arvind Kejriwal, now chief minister of Delhi, was Hazare’s key aide during his struggle to demand an anti-corruption law in 2011 and 2012. However, the two parted ways after Kejriwal decided to enter politics, which Hazare disapproved of, and formed the Aam Aadmi Party.
Hazare accused the previous Congress-led government at the Centre of failing to act on the Jan Lokpal Bill, and the current government of diluting its provisions. The Jan Lokpal Bill is an anti-corruption bill drawn up after demands for a body to investigate corruption cases arose. The government has not yet implemented the act.
“Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are guilty,” Hazare said, adding: “We do not want a government of capitalists. No [Narendra] Modi, no Rahul [Gandhi]. We want a government which works for farmers’ interests.”
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