Ending speculation,
RALEGAN SIDDHI: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Wednesday ruled out joining politics or his movement taking a political turn.
"Absolutely not. I am taking extreme care to keep the anti-corruption movement free of politics. There is absolutely no such possibility," the 74-year-old activist told PTI in an interview.He was replying to a question whether his movement against corruption for a Jan Lokpal Bill could slowly take political hues following the recent announcement of Team Anna asking people to vote out MPs opposed to their version of the law in the next Parliament elections.
"If this yatra is aimed at rooting out corruption , why do not they oppose the ruling party and bring the Jan Lokpal bill?
"If they are sincere in their fight against corruption why can't they set up 'Lokayukta' in BJP-ruled states? We suspect a political motive in this yatra", he said reacting to Advani's announcement on embarking on a country-wide yatra against corruption.
Asked about Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's statement that Lokpal should have Constitutional status on the lines of Election Commission, Hazare said, "both Lokpal and Election Commissioner would have the autonomous status without government interference in their functioning".
Hazare also strongly refuted the allegation of Congress leader Digvijay Singh that his anti-corruption movement was based on the support from RSS and the claim by VHP leader Ashok Singhal that his organisation had backed it.
"Our movement has nothing to do with RSS or VHP. All this is being talked to mislead the people," he said.
On the anti-corruption initiatives by Ramdev, Hazare said he did not doubt the yoga guru's commitment to the cause of eradication of corruption from public life.
"But on his dais sit those who carry a stamp. Our support to him is limited only to the anti-corruption aspect. We will not share his platform and he will not share our dais. We will support each other in separate ways to fight corruption," he said.