Suspend Core Committee, demands key Team Anna member

New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) A key Team Anna member Friday
demanded suspension of the Core Committee and sought its
expansion to make it more representative against the backdrop
of ruling Congress leaders targeting it.
Kumar Vishwas shot off a letter to Anna Hazare, face of
anti-corruption movement in India, on the eve of Core
Committee meeting, saying the leaders of the ruling party were
targeting Hazare and each member of the Core Committee
and trying to tarnish their public image and credibility.
"Such attacks and the subsequent clarifications will
strengthen the conspiracy to divert the attention from the key
issues...I request you to give greater representation to the
Core Committee consisting of limited members and turn it into
a hard-core committee comprising of 121 crore people.
"I once against urge you to suspend the present Core
Committee and create a new system to enable us to see a
corruption-free new India," Vishwas said in his two-page
letter.
The letter comes a day before the crucial Core Committee
meeting in Ghaziabad in North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
Saturday, which is being held against the backdrop of a series
of allegations against key members like Arvind Kejriwal and
Kiran Bedi as well as resignation of two prominent activists
Rajinder Singh and P V Rajagopal citing the political turn
taken by Hazare's anti-corruption movement.
Vishwas, a college lecturer and poet, said the personal
attacks on Core Committee members by "corrupt forces" were a
proof that these people were trying to "neutralise and hurt"
people actively involved in the campaign for a strong Lokpal.
Such attacks would not only affect the Jan Lokpal issue
but also hurt the confidence of crores of Indians, he said.
"Besides taking some misleading steps, the government has
so far not taken any concrete action. While on one side the
Prime Minister wrote a letter to you assuring you of necessary
action on Lokpal, on the other side, leaders of the ruling
party are trying their best to tarnish the public image and
credibility of...each member of the Core Committee" including
Hazare, he said.
Vishwas told Hazare that the reaction of people have
shown his strength when corrupt forces tried to defame him
through allegations. "They understood that by attacking you,
they cannot stop the movement for a Jan Lokpal," he said.
He said some people, who were frustrated with corruption,
joined the movement, and were identified by people as Core
Committee and by media as Team Anna and now the corrupt forces
were singling out each and every member and levelling "false
and irrelevant" allegations for short-term gains.
Asked whether the letter indicated a split in the Team,
Vishwas replied in the negative. "There is no split in the
team or it is not a strategy. This is just my suggestion to
Hazare, who has a lot of experience," he said.
"Corrupt forces want to shatter our image and we don't
want to drag it. We don't want to divert the attention from
the movement to allegations. The corrupt forces are trying to
focus on some faces and people," he said.
He said the Jan Lokpal bill should be in focus and
suggested a reorganisation of the Core Committee in this
regard. "Allegations will be fought individually and our focus
should be Jan Lokpal Bill," he said, adding he did not want to
derail the movement. PTI