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Secret meeting with Anna Hazare led to split within Team Anna, reveals Salman Khurshid's forthcoming book

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The India Against Corruption (IAC) movement which resulted in Team Anna split, was not because of the political ambitions of Arvind Kejriwal as is widely believed, but due to a secret meeting between Anna Hazare and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, followed by a goof up by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Anna had even promised to campaign for the Congress party. Khurshid has revealed this in his forthcoming book "Other Side of the Mountain", recalling the five years of UPA-II and defending various decisions of Manmohan Singh government. He was also a member the group of five ministers negotiating with Hazare on the draft of Lokpal bill.

In the wake of these revelations, attempts to contact Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi proved futile. Meanwhile, when contacted, AAP leaders refused. A close aide of Arvind Kejriwal refused any official response to query. "We would be able to comment only after reading the book," Kejriwal's aide told dna.

On June 23, 2012, when Khurshid was in Pune along with his wife Louise, a mediator offered to arrange a meeting with Hazare. "I informed my party high command and they cleared the meeting and asked me to see if Anna can campaign for the Congress," said Khurshid.

Now, it was a Herculean task to get rid of the escorting Maharashtra Police personnel, who would have leaked the information about the meeting. An aide of Khrushid asked them to leave the minister alone as aunt of his wife Louise had passed away and they were going to her funeral. "They readily agreed and left us alone," writes Khurshid. Louise was now worried that the policemen should not tell press about the so-called demise of her Pune-based aunt, as she was alive and kicking.

"The meeting with Anna at an undisclosed location outside Pune went very well. He even agreed to campaign for the Congress, but wanted a formal letter," claims Khurshid. Anna also informed him, how he dodged Kiran Bedi, who also happened to be in Pune at that time, telling her, he was going to meet a saint. "He (Anna) also advised me to deny this meeting if at all press got a wind of it. For a larger good and to the benefit of nation, one can lie," he told me.

Upon reaching Delhi, it was first decided that prime minister will write a letter to Anna. But it was sabotaged by some ministerial colleagues and it was agreed that a letter will go in the name and stamp of the then minister in the PMO, V Narayanasamy.

"But a goof-up was in store, as his office instead of dispatching it to Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra, sent it to IAC office in Delhi headed by Arvind Kejriwal, who became furious after knowing the contents of the letter. The letter had mentioned the meeting about the between Khurshid and Anna. Kejriwal had no wind of this backroom talks. Though, not in public, he had blamed Anna for backstabbing the movement.

Shocked at the premature bursting of the plot, Khurshid denied his meeting with Hazare while Hazare broke away from Kejriwal and went into a shell, publicly declaring that no government can influence him and that he would not campaign for any party.

Khurshid promised that his book will reveal the complex personalities of both Hazare and Kejriwal. The book, still being scripted, will be published by Rupa sometime early next year.

The book "will primarily try to establish that the UPA-II was a victim of propaganda and the allocations of 2G spectrum and coal were not scams after all. The book seeks to explain what happened exactly in the spectrum and coal blocks allocation. Nobody has understood the governance of UPA-II. I would explain what happened then. Now this government (of Modi) has to respond to the allegations they had levelled as they are in power now.

They rode to success after raking up of 2G and coal scam issues," Khurshid said.

He also said the book will counter all the charges levelled against the UPA, Congress and Manmohan by opposition as also by the people within the system. He, however, declined to divulge details until the book hits the stands, noting that "it is time that we should be credited for some of the best things done by UPA-II."

— With inputs from Mayank Aggarwal

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