Unease in Team Anna, members demand revamp

With Team Anna coming under attack on alleged financial misconduct and other issues, a sense of unease appeared to have cropped up among some of the key members who today demanded reconstitution of the Core Committee.

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Core Committee in nearby Ghaziabad tomorrow which will not be attended by Anna Hazare, two prominent members Medha Patkar and Kumar Vishwas urged the Gandhian to "overhaul" the group.

Though both of them did not criticise Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, who are facing flak over the running of their NGOs and their financial integrity being questioned, they have referred to the allegations faced by the Core Committee members.

"I don't think there is a difference of opinion. The only thing is a bit of overhauling is certainly becoming necessary because there are a number of allegations and Core Committee members are being targeted," Patkar, who will not be attending tomorrow's meeting due to prior engagement, said.

Vishwas shot off a letter to Hazare demanding suspension of the Core Committee and sought its expansion to make it more representative against the backdrop of Congress leaders targeting it.

"Such attacks [against Team Anna members] 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 again 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.