New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Social activist Anna Hazare Thursday said he was happy and satisfied with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s letter, assuring him that she does not support or encourage the politics of smear campaign.
‘Sonia Gandhi has written to me. I was happy to read her letter that she never supported nor will support those who are attacking me,’ Hazare told a news channel.
Hazare in his letter to the Congress president said that corrupt forces appeared to have united to derail the process of drafting an effective anti-corruption law and one of their strategies was to smear the reputation of the civil society members in the joint committee drafting the Lokpal Bill.
Without directly naming Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, Hazare accused him of giving factually incorrect statements to mislead people and derail the discussions in the joint committee.
He also accused Communications Minister Kapil Sibal of creating confusion through his remarks to the media.
In her response, Gandhi said the Lokpal Bill was on the agenda of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and it was going ahead with consultations with the civil society before the process was overtaken by ‘subsequent events’.
‘Let me reiterate what I wrote to you earlier that I believe there is an urgent necessity to combat graft and corruption. You should have no doubt of my commitment in the fight for probity in public life,’ Gandhi wrote to Hazare in her capacity as chairperson of NAC.
