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Although the Congress dismissed it as a “guru-chela’ affair, relations between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and his social activist ‘guru’ Anna Hazare appeared to be unravelling over the same issues that cause a rift in all parties: money.
Hazare appeared in a video criticised Kejriwal for misusing funds collected using Hazare’s name during the Ramlila Maidan agitation. AAP and Kejriwal are emphatic: Hazare’s name was never used to collect funds and this is just a stratagem used by political rivals Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to drive a wedge between the AAP and Hazare.
"BJP and Congress are trying to create differences between us and Annaji," Arvind Kejriwal told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday.
"It is sad that some people are misleading Anna Hazare," Kejriwal said. “If my guru questions my honesty it has hurt me deeply. I have said earlier that if any wrongdoing surfaces, I will not contest the elections. If the BJP or Congress questions my integrity, it doesn't bother me because that is expected of them. But if Anna Hazare questions my honesty and integrity, it disturbs me a lot. It worries me," he said
He was answering anotehr question about the angst it was causing Anna Hazare that AAP had made the passage of the Jan Lok Pal bill their first action when they come to power in delhi.
“If Annaji doesn’t want the Jan LokPal Bill to be known as his bill, we won’t use his name” an apparently exasperated Kejriwal said.
"We have heard that fresh revelations about AAP members Manish Sisodia and Prashant Bhushan are also likely to surface in next 48 hours," Kejriwal added. "We have challenged Robert Vadra, Nitin Gadkari, Salman Khurshid. Do you think they will keep quiet?" Kejriwal asked.
In the video released on Tuesday, Anna Hazare was seen saying that money collected in his name during the Ramlila agitation was being misused by AAP.
Bothe the BJP and the Congress say privately that they are doubtful if AAP will manage even one seat. But they concede it will get a sizeable part of the vote share.
