Anna Hazare fires secretary of 10 years for leaking content of secret meeting

The resignation of Suresh Pathare, secretary of veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare, has created a controversy. While Pathare claims he resigned on personal grounds, sources close to Hazare said the latter had asked him to resign.

Hazare was peeved with Pathare for his alleged role in leaking to the media news about Hazare’s secret meeting with Yoga guru Baba Ramdev last week after the latter announced he would distance himself from the political party floated by Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal. Sources close to Hazare said Pathare had pointed out that “it would not be very appropriate to meet anyone after the parting of ways”. Pathare’s behaviour apparently peeved Hazare.

Last week, Hazare, in a significant move, decided to part ways with Kejriwal and asked him not to use his name or photographs for the fledgling political party. This announcement dismayed many, including Kejriwal, who said he would continue upholding Hazare’s ideals and those would form the building blocks of his
party.

After announcing the split, Hazare had met Yoga guru Baba Ramdev at a secret meeting in New Delhi. This meeting was opposed by Pathare, who claimed it would not be proper for Hazare to meet anyone after his decision to part ways with Kejriwal.

However, Pathare, who has been Hazare’s secretary since 2002,  talking from Ralegan Siddhi, stated that he was resigning because of personal reasons. “I would be working for the movement and also will be with Anna, but it is not possible for me to work full-time now,” he said.

Datta Awari, another secretary working for Hazare, said nothing has been finalised about who would take over Pathare’s role. Allauddin Shaikh, secretary of Bhrastachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (BVJA) said he would be helping Awari look after the duties of Pathare. Shaikh has already started doing the work that was  done by Pathare.