New Delhi: Anna Hazare is not allowed to
take his own decisions or lead the anti-corruption movement on
his own as some members of his core team "control" and
"exploit" him, his former blogger Raju Parulekar has alleged.
Parulekar, who fell out with Hazare recently after the
Gandhian distanced from him after a controversy erupted over
restructuring of the core team, also alleged that key team
members Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan had
no respect for the Gandhian.
Parulekar claimed that the social activist had told him
that Team Anna members were "nothing without him".
It was financial and health reasons that made Hazare
stick to Kejriwal, Bedi and Bhushan, he told `Open` magazine
when asked what were Hazare`s compulsions to retain them.
"Annaji would like to lead, but is not. He has started
realising that this gang (Kejriwal, Bedi and Bhushan) is
exploiting him.
He knows that as long as they are there, the movement
will not attract others who will work selflessly. This group
is exploiting public sentiment against corruption for their
own financial gain, fame and recognition," he claimed.
Asked whether Hazare was a free decision-maker, he said,
"I don`t think so. Annaji is controlled by these people. They
have no respect for him, only for the brand he has become.
"He is weak and has a host of ailments, but all these
people want him for is to fast. These people should be kicked
out of the movement, otherwise, there will be no future for
it," he said.
As long as Hazare heads the movement, Parulekar said,
the trio "have their identities...but Kejriwal, Bedi and
Bhushan have their own plans. They are opportunists."
He also claimed that the decision to write a
Constitution for the movement was a "compromise" the `gang`
had reached with Hazare to stay in the core committee.
Parulekar said Hazare should have stood by him as he was
only putting in public domain what he had said and claimed he
never misused it and alleged that Kejriwal and Bedi wanted to
vet the blog dictated by him, which "depicted" their regard
for Hazare.
PTI
