Swami Agnivesh was like a govt mole, says Kiran Bedi

NEW DELHI: Former IPS officer and Anna Hazare aide Kiran Bedi has said that social activist Swami Agnivesh was like a government mole in the India Against Corruption team.

Asked about Agnivesh's charge that had it not been for Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, Hazare's fast would have been over long ago, a strident Bedi told a TV channel, "If you are going by what Mr Agnivesh says, then better let it be. He is still to establish his own credentials. The tape showing him in conversation with Kapil Sibal shows that he had a direct link with Sibal. It was almost like he was a government mole among us. There were allegations for long but we kept ignoring it. What conscience did he have sitting down with us?"

The tape Bedi referred to is the one that has been doing the rounds for some time now where Agnivesh, addressing the person at the other end as "Kapilji" and "Maharaj" at different times, had said, "These people (Team Anna) have become mad like an elephant and you are giving them more and more every day. I feel embarrassed by their attitude when the government has been so accommodating."

Sources in the Hazare camp said that even during the Gandhian's first five-day fast in April at Jantar Mantar demanding the Jan Lokpal Bill, there were questions about Agnivesh's conduct but the team chose to ignore it as they thought overt signs of a division might end up hurting the campaign.

Agnivesh has already denied that this was a conversation he was having with HRD minister Kapil Sibal who was among the ministers negotiating regularly with Anna Hazare's team. He said the man at the other end of the line was Haridwar-based godman Kapil Maharaj who has since denied having any conversation with Agnivesh. The last the social activist had said about the tape was that it was a "cut and paste" job. He has been incommunicado since then.

Bedi also said in the interview that Agnivesh had told her that it was a fraud. "I told him that in that case, he should go to the police and get the matter investigated." In an interview to a different channel, Bedi, when asked if there were "hidden agendas" within Team Anna, said, "Those with hidden agendas have separated. Look at Mr Agnivesh."