The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said a letter to Team Anna on the coal mining issue is not the need of the hour and the government should order a full-fledged probe into the scam to bring out the truth. "We feel that just a letter from the PMO to Team Anna on Coalgate is not enough. A thorough probe is required. Even when the 2G spectrum scam took place, the PMO and Cabinet ministers said there was zero loss," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has dubbed as political rape Anna Hazare's "five-star, corporate hunger strike for trivial causes" and dismissed Team Anna members as a bunch of "worthless" persons.
Ahead of Anna Hazare's one-day fast in Delhi, which has now been rescheduled to March 25, to press for protection to whistleblowers, Team Anna on Wednesday accused the ruling Congress of "sabotaging" the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Key Team Anna member Justice N Santosh Hegde admitted on Wednesday that corruption and governance issues did not determine the outcome of Uttar Pradesh elections but said the anti-graft sentiment certainly worked in Goa.
Confusion prevailed over Anna Hazare's protest plans on Monday with a prominent Municipal Corporation of Delhi functionary saying that the civic body has not given permission for the agitation at Ramlila Maidan even as Team Anna insisted that they have got the nod.
A Delhi court on Saturday ordered registration of first information report against former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi for allegedly cheating and misappropriating funds in collusion with foreign companies and other foundations.
Former Army chief Gen V K Singh will share dais with Anna Hazare and offer juice to the 74-year-old activist to break his six-day long fast.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that the government was spending crores of rupees and planting stories in the media to separate Anna Hazare from him, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan. Accusing the government of trying to defame Team Anna with charges that would not stick, he said during a programme on TV channel Aaj Tak that "there's a conspiracy to separate Anna Hazare". "The government is spending crores of rupees for this. Stories are being planted," he said.
Facing allegations of financial misconduct, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that he will quit the anti-graft movement if "corruption of even Rs 10 is proved" against him.
Already plagued by internal dissensions, Team Anna plunged into yet another controversy on Thursday with allegations against Kiran Bedi that she charged her hosts full fare on air tickets while availing discounts but the activist claimed there was 'no personal' gain.
The Parliamentary by-polls in Hisar, Haryana, have made headlines thanks to the war of words between Team Anna activists and Congress leaders. But the different communities which inhabit Hisar have other issues on their mind. The most important issue for the Jat community is reservation in government jobs under the Other Backward Classes quota. Members of the community had paralysed rail and road traffic in many parts of northern India for several days.
Sharing Anna Hazare's platform, Opposition parties on Sunday backed his demands for inclusion of prime minister and lower bureaucracy under the ambit of Lokpal but some counselled Team Anna to be flexible and not expect every point raised by it to be accepted.
Aiming at devising a strategy for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament, the two-day meeting of the core committee of Team Anna began in Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday.
On the eve of the winter session of Parliament, rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt narrates how the Congress party views the issues of corruption, Team Anna and Lokpal bill.
Seeking to put Team Anna members on the back-foot, the activist's former blogger Raju Parulekar has accused the "gang of four" in Anna Hazare's core team of using the activist as a "demi-god" to further their interests and hold the government to "ransom".
Team Anna on Friday made it clear that a mere discussion in Parliament will not serve any purpose and the Gandhian will not call off his fast till Parliament passes a resolution that the cleared Lokpal Bill will include the three contentious points raised by them.
Congress on Tuesday expressed hurt over Anna Hazare's statement that a "gang of four" in the government of was targeting his team, saying the party and the government had nothing to do with the allegations against Team Anna members.
Did Team Anna member and Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal commit a criminal office when he appealed to Hisar voters not to vote for the Congress in the by-polls?
Ahead of Anna Hazare's fast from Tuesday to demand a 'strong' Lokpal, Team Anna on Monday said it was not aligned with anyone in particular and that it was only fighting to achieve an "independent" and "non-partisan" Central Bureau of Investigation.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was on Tuesday attacked by a youth with a slipper while he was going to attend a programme in Lucknow as part of their anti-graft campaign, nearly a week after the assault on another colleague Prashant Bhushan.
Reflecting a rift within Team Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde has disapproved of the anti-Congress campaign by activist Arvind Kejriwal during the Hisar bypolls, saying it was not the right thing to do and "we jumped the gun".
With Team Anna campaigning against his party in Hisar bypoll, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday questioned Anna Hazare on why he was not attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party and cautioned him against "lofty promises" by that party of making him a presidential candidate.
A core member of Team Anna and expert of food security, Devinder Sharma, told rediff.com that there is a debate going on within Team Anna whether the Gandhian should hold his proposed fast to press for a stringent Lokpal Bill from December 27 in Mumbai.
The core group of Anna Hazare's team would discuss invitations to Kashmir and Manipur during its meeting on September 10 and 11 at Anna's village Ralegan Siddhi.
The Delhi Police finds itself in a piquant situation after allowing Team Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption to fast for a strong Lokpal Bill upto September 2 at the Ramleela grounds. The place has been booked by another organisation for a rally on September 1.
Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, won the Hisar by-polls defeating Indian National Lok Dal 's Ajay Chautala. Congress' Jai Prakash was in the third position.
Activist Kiran Bedi on Friday said Team Anna members felt "let down" by Rahul Gandhi's lack of support for the anti-corruption movement as they thought that he would work with them to ensure that the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed in Parliament.
Team Congress says it opposes Team Anna's Lokpal recommendations because it could create a parallel system of government. If so, we should support Team Anna without reservation because right now we seem to have no government at all, says T V R Shenoy.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has said though the 'sense of the House' passed by Parliament on the three demands of Team Anna is not binding on the Standing Committee, it is unlikely to reject it.
Sneha Kothawade, a young member of Team Anna, credits great team management and organisation for the victory of 'people power' at Ramlila maidan.
Gandhian Anna Hazare, who had meditated at Rajghat before launching his fast on August 16, will not visit Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi after ending his hunger strike because of health reasons.
Justice A P Shah, former chief justice of the Delhi high court, shares his thoughts on the current situation surrounding the Lokpal bill and Team Anna with rediff.com's Toral Varia.
Akhil Gogoi, an RTI activist from Assam, has been part of activist Anna Hazare's inner circle since the last two years. In an interview with rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore, he explains how the core members of Team Anna swung into action and carried the movement forward when Hazare and his aides Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were arrested by the Delhi police on August 16. Akhil is one of the 22 members who form the core group of Team Anna.
Criticising Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for organising a 'janta darbar' which ended in chaos on Saturday, former Team Anna member Kiran Bedi took a jibe at him over the lack of "mature" governance and said such meetings do not happen on the streets or the rooftops.
Vehicular traffic came to a halt in many parts of Guwahati city on Thursday for hours as thousands of landless farmers stormed the city demanding land and denouncing government's design to allot agriculture land to industrialists at throwaway prices flouting all norms.
Supporters of erstwhile Team Anna on Sunday marched towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence as part of their 'gherao' protest against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP on the coal block allocation issue.
Taking exception to former Team Anna member, Arvind Kejriwal launching a political party, Justice N Santosh Hegde said it has affected credibility of the movement against corruption in the country.
Notwithstanding the split over their movement turning political, Anna Hazare has decided not to accept Arvind Kejriwal's offer to return money collected during the erstwhile Team Anna's anti-corruption agitations.
Team Anna member N Santosh Hegde on Sunday saluted Parliament for rising to the occasion and giving its nod to key elements of Jan Lokpal Bill, but cautioned that people should "not expect a miracle" as enacting the legislation will "take its own time".
Five cases were on Sunday registered against unknown persons for rioting and violating prohibitory orders in connection with the protest of erstwhile Team Anna during which around 1,000 people were detained, including activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan.
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