Further cracks appear in Team Anna

The letter by Shivendra Singh Chauhan came after a meeting at lawyer Prashant Bhushan's residence last week over the issue of managing India Against Corruption's Facebook page.

Kejriwal alleged that Chauhan did not believe in democracy and took decisions unilaterally regarding the social media campaign and warned that he will be "ejected" from the movement if he does not follow the decisions of Core Committee, the letter alleged.

"By what authority will you dissociate or denounce me until you conclusively prove that you own the movement and that I have ever worked against the interests of the movement? I am sure disagreement and working in the best interest of the movement, even if independently, cannot be deemed as damaging the movement," he said in the letter.

Kejriwal did not respond to a text message seeking his version.

"This is a people's movement against corruption and most of us joined it out of our own free will and not through a formal process so there is no question of removal by a group. The movement belongs to us all and fight against corruption cannot be anybody's monopoly but it is a herculean task where everyone can contribute in whichever way possible.

"The members of core committee were not chosen through a democratic or even a well-defined process. Annaji...You and some others would have been members of such committee by default and by virtue of their work but what about the rest?" Chauhan said in the letter.

Chauhan claimed that in January this year, Kejriwal offered him a seat in the Core Committee to which he replied that he need not be in it. "My question is, by which democratic process was I offered to be in core committee," he said.

He said it would have been democratic if a model similar to selection of Janlokpal members been adopted for selection of members to Core Committee.

Prominent Team Anna members have been absent from Hazare's campaign for a Lokayukta in Maharashtra, indicating sharp differences within the group on the way forward. MORE