A source revealed that Suresh Jain revealed only convenient facts to the Congress spokesman, who in turn attacked Hazare, leading to the present mess.
The state government had sent Additional Chief Secretary Umesh Sarangi and Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad to Delhi to hold talks with Anna Hazare on the suggestions of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Highly placed sources revealed that it was Pawar who advised Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to send the officers to Delhi a month ago.
“We are not expecting them to create a miracle. Marathi speaking officers would certainly maintain rapport with Anna. The first thing we did that we translated the Lokpal draft into Marathi and sent it with the officers for ready reference,” said the source.
The source revealed that Shiv Sena MLA Suresh Jain had briefed Congress spokesman Manish Tewari about the Sawant Commission findings a couple of days before Anna started his fast. He said that Jain revealed only convenient facts to Tewari, who in turn attacked Hazare, leading to the present mess.
Jain, back in state, is believed to be hard core rival of Anna as the former had to lose his ministry in the Sena-BJP government, more than a decade ago, due to allegations of corruption levelled by Hazare.
The core group negotiating with Anna felt that the agitation on August 16 would not gather the momentum. Secondly, after crushing Baba Ramdev’s stir, they thought Anna could be easily handled, a Congress source said.
He also claimed that the state government had warned the UPA of Hazare as he had successfully made the state government to enact three effective laws.
Party leadership in the state also feels that inclusion of Bhaiyyu Maharaj in the team speaking to Hazare was uncalled for.
“Whatever his credentials and the relationship with Anna is, officially engaging Maharaj was a bad idea,” the source said.
The leadership also feels that roping in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to talk to Team Anna would be an ideal option.
The leadership feel that Sibal’s statements like the ‘government has not lost anything in the 2G scam’ has diminished his credibility, so was the case for home minister P Chidambaram.
“With the credibility and experience in handling such issues, Pranabda may surely show some way to the government,” he added.
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