Congress condemns Anna's tirade against the Govt.

New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): Congress Party on Tuesday strongly condemned veteran social activistAnna Hazare's recent tirade against the government.

Hazare had on Monday night hit out against a 'gang of four' in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, which he said was opposed to the Jan Lokpal bill and was carrying out a systematic 'character assassination' of his team members.

"To accuse and humiliate seems to be the mantra of these few. I do not blame all the ministers in the Congress party or the government as a whole. There are some righteous and committed people in the government but they cannot raise their voice because of this gang of four," said Hazare in his latest blog posted on Monday night.

Taking strong objection to Hazare's remarks, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi maintained the government was not fuelling the infighting within the anti-graft activists of the civil society.

"The word gang is very objectionable. We have respect for Mr. Anna Hazare, but we do not expect that he would use such kind of words for honourable ministers. No minister is behind Kiran Bedi, no minister is behind Mr. Kejriwal, it is infighting of civil society, The Congress party and government of India have nothing to do with that," he added.

Rashid Alvi also slammed the civil society activists over alleged financial impropriety in their own playfield.

Alvi's comments came days after Team Anna member and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was embroiled in a simmering controversy, following a scathing report published in a leading national daily.

"If she (Kiran Bedi) travelled in the economy class of an airline but claimed a higher amount for the same, Anna Hazare should realise that no government minister can be blamed for this. Only Kiran Bedi is responsible for this. If she is returning the amount, it means she accepts what she did was wrong and unethical," said Alvi.

The report accused Bedi of travelling in economy class and charging the host non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other institutions that invite her for seminars and talks, with bills of business or executive class.

The daily claimed to have 12-recorded examples of irregularities, some of which date back to 2006, when Bedi was serving as an Indian Police Services (IPS) officer.

The newspaper also published the details of the total bills and the invoice generated for each of her flights, one of them with a difference as huge as rupees 55, 983.

Bedi has so far categorically denied the report, saying she had not taken any 'personal pecuniary gains' and claimed the money was used for carrying out welfare activities through a voluntary forum that she had founded. (ANI)

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