New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday launched a sharp attack on anti-corruption crusader-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal. The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh wrote a strong worded letter to the India Against Corruption (IAC) member calling him "a self serving ambitious megalomaniac man".
Hitting out at the activist-turned-politician, the Congress leader said, "You are a self serving ambitious megalomaniac with scant regard for democracy." Digvijaya also had an advice for Kejriwal – first practice, then preach.
In his letter, the Congress general secretary reiterated that Kejriwal wanted to be a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) and even wanted to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over the issue.
Digvijaya Singh went on to say that the India Against Corruption member even requested him to propose his name for inclusion in the NAC. "I did propose your name, but failed. She (Sonia Gandhi) took Aruna Roy, who was your guru," said Digvijaya in his letter to Kejriwal.
Kejriwal, however, chose not to respond to the sharp attack by the Congress general secretary. When asked about the letter, the India Against Corruption member said, "Digvijaya's letter to me does not merit a response."
He also posted on microblogging website Twitter: "Congress seems to be completely rattled and baffled. That is apparent from Digvija's letter. Digvijay seems Congress' last resort."
This came hours after the government dismissed the internal investigation ordered by India Against Corruption into the allegations against its key members. Minister of State (PMO) V Narayanasamy said an accused party cannot order a probe on its own self. "One can't probe self. How can the Lokpal probe its own members? An independent third party will have to probe this," he said.
Also, Congress general secretary Manish Tewari addressed a press conference in the national capital questioning the internal probe by the anti-corruption group, and termed IAC as the "B team of the BJP".
The attack by the Congress leaders came amidst the controversies surrounding India Against Corruption and its members. While former IPS officer YP Singh on Thursday targeted Kejriwal saying he was not producing evidence against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar despite having the documents, the team on Friday had to go for an internal probe into allegations against its key members.
The group of the social activists has ordered an internal investigation into allegations against Anjali Damania, Prashant Bhushan and Mayank Gandhi. According to a statement released by the IAC, they have formed an independent ombudsman to investigate charges against their members.
Later speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN, Arvind Kejriwal conceded that he was not aware of Damania's land deal, but also questioned "where is the evidence of connivance with the authorities on her part". He said that Damania could not be pronounced guilty before the investigations were over.
He, however, added that if any wrongdoing was proved in the internal inquiry of India Against Corruption, the members would be removed. He said, "Please punish us but we will continue to raise our voice." He also hit back at the government, which had slammed the internal inquiry by the activists, saying, "Why the government does not investigate charges against us. They have all the agencies…give us double punishment if we are guilty."
Earlier, Kejriwal had requested the government to order a probe, saying, "We will send all reports, allegations and questions to three judges on Monday. We request the judges to submit a report as quickly as possible. We also request the government to investigate allegations against us."
This came even as Mayank Gandhi and Anjali Damania said that they were ready for an investigation against them into the allegations they are facing, but refused to share documents with mediapersons at a press conference in Mumbai, saying they did not want a media trial to take place on this issue. It must be noted that till now, the IAC has always targeted political leaders and parties by sharing documents against them with the media.
When mediapersons asked the social activist for the documents, Damania said, "Everything has been done legally. I have all the documents. These documents will be first sent to the Ombudsman and if he gives the permission, then we'll forward the documents to you."
Gandhi and Damania, however, welcomed the internal probe of the IAC against them and assured that they would answer all the questions posed to them. "All those against whom allegations have been leveled, including me and Anjali Damania, should be enquired into…we will be giving an e-mail address where complaints against us too could be sent for investigation," said Mayank Gandhi.
Referring to the investigation panel, the anti-corruption activist said that Justice(Retd) AP Shah, Justice(Retd) BH Marlapalle and Justice(Retd) Jaspal Singh had been asked by the IAC to conduct an internal enquiry against them.
Asserting that the IAC members were upfront about the investigation, social activist from Maharashtra, Anjali Damania said, "The India Express has come out with an allegation…there will be a number of allegations that will come against us. We are upfront about investigations."
Damania further assured that she would be answerable to each and every question from the ombudsman panel. She said, "If we are fighting corruption, then we ourselves should be answerable," adding that all the papers required during the investigation would be produced.
Damania, however, questioned the timing of the allegations against her. She said, "Why weren't questions raised earlier? The land was bought in 2006, why is it being raised in 2012? Is the political class trying to confuse everybody?"
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