Anna Hazare losing his credibility: Digvijaya

New Delhi: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday fired a fresh salvo at Team Anna saying Anna Hazare was losing his credibility with his conflicting utterances on the Lokpal issue and claimed his campaign against party in Uttar Pradesh would have "zero" impact.

"Anna is losing his credibility gradually by making such statements. One day he says that defeat Congress. The second day he says I am not against any party but against corrupt candidate. Next days he says, I am going to campaign against the Congress party. He should make up his mind first and think before he says something," Singh told reporters.

Digvijaya Singh said that Hazare should sit back silently and wait till the
 Winter session.

He was reacting to Hazare's declaration on Friday that he would campaign against Congress in five states where Assembly elections are due next year if the UPA government fails to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in the Winter Session of Parliament.

"It will have zero impact in UP," said Singh when asked how much Team Anna's campaign could affect Congress in the state.

He said that Hazare should sit back silently and wait till the Winter session, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself, had assured him to bring the bill in this session.

Singh also took a jibe at Arvind Kejriwal over his letter to the Prime Minister on returning his service dues and said the activist's efforts to seek "martyrdom" would not succeed.

"Kejriwal is presenting this matter in a way that injustice was meted out to him. He filled up the bond form, it was he, who did not fulfill its conditions....There is no question of any martyrdom in this, which he is unnecessarilty trying to create around. This halo will not last," Singh said.

Digviojaya's latest googly:'Anna BJP's man for President?'

Agra:  Digvijaya Singh has stirred another controversy, this time again for his remarks on anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. The senior Congress leader has said he has "heard that BJP has told Anna Hazare that he could be the all-party candidate for the 2012 President's election."

Digvijaya Singh was speaking in Agra. His remarks came after Team Anna launched a blistering attack on the Congress ahead of the October 13 Lok Sabha bypoll in Hisar, asking voters to inflict a "historic defeat" on the party for not bringing the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"I don't know how far it is true, but I have heard that BJP has told Anna Hazare that he could be the all-party candidate for the 2012 President's election. It is for Anna Hazare to tell us if anything like this has been proposed to him since he always says that he is not a political person," Digvijaya Singh said.

Lashing out at Team Anna for asking people to vote against Congress, the party General Secretary had earlier said, "If Anna Hazare wants to get into politics, he should form his own party".


Digvijaya also referred to an RSS statement claiming that it was part of Anna Hazare's movement. "If Anna Hazare demanded that I should be sent to a mental asylum when I alleged the RSS hand...now that RSS itself is saying that they supported Anna Hazare...then now Anna should also accompany me to the mental asylum. Check-ups should be done on both of us."

Gandhian activist Anna had dismissed the RSS claim saying, "Nobody approached me. Not a single RSS worker met me or approached me. How are they saying this? I don't know."

Urging voters to inflict "historic defeat" on Congress in Hisar, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday that Anna has sat on a fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill twice, but the Congress-led UPA government was yet to bring it in Parliament.

"You will have to inflict a historic defeat on the Congress. If you defeat the party (in the bypoll), this will be Anna's victory," he told the gathering.

Alleging that the Congress and corruption were synonymous, Mr Kejriwal asked people to defeat corrupt forces.

He also claimed that Congress was afraid to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill as it fears "half of its own ministers will land up in jail".

He said if the bill is not passed soon, Team Anna would intensify its campaign against the Congress in the five poll-bound states including Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Kejriwal has, however, clarified that Team Anna has no intention to enter party politics. "Some people are saying we are doing politics. We have been saying right since the very beginning that we are doing politics, but we are not doing party politics or election politics. We are into the politics of people. We want the people of this country to have power. They are into the politics of corruption and lies; we are into politics of truth and people," he said.

File an FIR if I swindled crores: Kejriwal to Congress

New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh's statement on Sunday accusing Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal of evading taxes has resulted in a strong rebuttal from Anna Hazare and his supporters. Singh claimed Kejriwal deliberately flouted rules of his government service and used his NGOs to amass crores of rupees.

Hazare has publicly stated that he trusts Kejriwal despite the accusations, and many supporters have labeled the notice as politically motivated.

The strongest retaliation came from Kejriwal himself, who said the Congress government should file an FIR if they were serious, instead of making ill-advised statements in public.

"If Mr Digvijaya Singh feels I have swindled crores, why doesn't his party's government register an FIR against me and take legal action rather than making irresponsible statements?"

Earlier on Sunday, the Congress General secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh said at Azamgarh that the Income Tax Department had served notice to Kejriwal in 2005 only.

Singh charged the former bureaucrat with not only flouting government service rules but also being involved in politics and collecting crores through his NGO.

Singh on Sunday drew a line between Yoga guru Ramdev and Anna Hazare, both of whom are engaged in anti-corruption campaigns.

"While Ramdev is a thug (cheat), Hazare is a social worker and that is why the government acted on his demands," Singh said.