New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday described social activist Arvind Kejriwal as an ‘unguided missile’ favouring the ruling Congress Party and its government at the centre.
“If Arvind Kejriwal and his team are raising their voices against corruption, then we don’t have any problem with that. But, that voice somehow seems to be in favour of the Congress Party. In that situation, I don’t think any fight can be won, or be successful. The fact is that when Anna Hazare was leading this campaign, this team was a guided missile. Right now, they are an unguided missile,” claimed BJP leader and spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
Naqvi’s comment came as Kejriwal continued to target Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife, Louise Khurshid, over their NGO siphoning off funds intended for the welfare of specially-abled people.
He was responding to a sting operation by a Hindi news channel, which claimed that the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, headed by the minister and run by his wife, had withdrawn funds meant for procuring equipment such as crutches and hearing aids, while not actually performing any of its intended functions. Kejriwal said that Salman Khurshid must resign.
However, senior Congress leader Jagadambika Pal said that Kejriwal and his team members were looking for new ways to get media attention.
“Everybody has the right to protest outside the residence of any leader and they conduct protests almost every day. Since Anna Hazare has separated himself from this team, they want to maintain a political ground and raise an issue that would keep them in the limelight and media glare,” said Pal.
Kejriwal, who is set to launch a political party in late November, has also accused government ministers, including Khurshid, of shielding Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi against graft allegations.
Kejriwal, along with fellow activist Prashant Bhushan, had accused the country's largest realtor, DLF Limited, of arranging favourable loans and real estate transactions for Vadra, a charge that the company has denied.
According to Kejriwal, Vadra obtained Rs 65 crore (Rs 650 million) as unsecured loan from DLF and that he used the funds to buy properties owned by the very same firm well below the then prevailing market rates.
ANI
First Published: Friday, October 12, 2012, 17:58