Team Anna: A stir in the revolution

In what could become a masterstroke against the continuous controversies related to their group, Team Anna member and poet Kumar Vishwas on Friday sought suspension of the present core committee. He instead wants the committee to be expanded, making it more representative.

The move comes ahead of the core committee’s meeting in Ghaziabad on Saturday where issues such as Kiran Bedi’s air fare bills, Prashant Bhushan’s Kashmir controversial remark, Income Tax notice to Arvind Kejriwal and resignation of some members could come up for discussion.

In a letter to Hazare, Vishwas - a lecturer in a Uttar Pradesh college - said the government has not taken any concrete steps for Lokpal, but members of the ruling party were instead trying to tarnish the image of Hazare and core committee members.

Vishwas said he felt that “due to such attacks and the subsequent clarifications, the conspiracy to divert attention from the main issue (Lokpal) will strengthen”. 

So, he requested Hazare “to expand this core committee of limited members (26) and turn it into a hard-core committee comprising of 121 crore people.”

Claiming that there are many more fights ahead after Lokpal, he said: “I once again urge you to suspend the present core committee and create a new system, which would turn true our dream of a corruption free new India.”

The core committee is also slated to discuss its strategy for meeting with the parliament’s standing committee on the Lokpal Bill next week and the challenges before the movement in the form of ever erupting controversies.