No single party should be targeted: Team Anna

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh, India), Jan 9 (PTI) The core committee of Team Anna which has been spearheading the cause of a strong ombudsman in India met in Ghaziabad on the outskirts of Delhi in the state of Uttar Pradesh on Monday amidst suggestions that the anti-corruption movement should not target any single political party in the future. It left the final decision to the team leader and activist Anna Hazare, who did not attend the meeting due to poor health. Hazare had called off a three-day fast in Mumbai from December 27 mid way due to poor health and depleted crowd. He has since been advised extended rest by doctors. However, sources said activist Medha Patkar and some others argued that the movement should not target Congress alone on the Lokpal (ombudsman) issue. Patkar did not attend the meeting but sent a note in this regard. Earlier, Team Anna had been accused of targeting the Congress party in its campaign. The meeting in Ghaziabad was the first meeting of the Team after Hazare called off his agitation programmes for a strong Lokpal last month. It came amidst "confusion" in Team Anna on how to take the movement forward. Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and other members attended the deliberations during which they discussed the future course of action, including "short term and long term strategy" for the movement. Kejriwal and Bhushan will now go to Hazare's home town Ralegan Siddhi in the western Indian state of Maharashtra and present before Hazare the suggestions that emerged in the Ghaziabad meeting. "We discussed the pros and cons of various suggestions. We discussed the future programmes. We discussed how to build the campaign. No decision has been taken as Anna was not here (in Ghaziabad) as well as some other members," Bhushan told PTI. Sources said Hazare will take a final call on the future course of action. PTI