Anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare today said his movement does not need a Kiran Bedi or an Arvind Kejriwal and he believed in “Ekla Chalo Re (walking alone).”
Speaking to NDTV at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra, the 77-year-old Gandhian distanced himself from the two most prominent faces of his 2011 anti-corruption campaign, who are now the main political rivals in poll-bound Delhi.
“Let Delhi decide whether to choose Kiran or Arvind. Why drag me into the muck?” Anna Hazare said.
“I don’t need Kiran Bedi or Arvind Kejriwal. I have the people with me. Why should I be upset at not having a team?” he added.
Anna Hazare has been openly disapproving of Kiran Bedi’s move to join the BJP and refused to take her calls earlier this month.
“I am not upset because Anna does not know why I have taken on this mantle,” Kiran Bedi had said.
Mr Hazare had told reporters that Kiran Bedi had not contacted him before joining the BJP and in fact, had not met him in a year.
Mr Hazare, whose India Against Corruption campaign won massive public support, underscored his distaste for mainstream politics. Both he and Ms Bedi had opposed Arvind Kejriwal’s move to launch the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012.
“Any Indian citizen can contest elections. The Constitution does not say that a person has to subscribe to any party or view. It is because of the samuh (groups) that the country has suffered,” Anna Hazare said.
