Anna camp confused, does not know the way forward-ToI-6.1.12

We Are At A Crossroads, Says Kejriwal

New Delhi: The anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare has self-confessedly come to a point from where it doesn’t know the way forward. Under attack for being anti-Congress even though all parties, including BJP, appear tainted, Anna Hazare’s key aide, Arvind Kejriwal, has strenuously denied in a signed article (Pg 10) that it is against Congress or pro-BJP. “How can we support a party which admits the likes of (tainted ex-BSP minister) Kushwaha in its folds?” he asks. 
    The confusion facing Team Anna is apparent. In its eyes, no political party qualifies for the anti-graft movement. Besides, the twists and turns in the parliamentary debate on the Lokpal Bill and the bumpy ride for the anti-graft law have taken a toll on Team Anna leaders. As a result, the movement today lacks a cohesive single voice – Santosh Hegde says something, while Kiran Bedi says something else. 
    On top of all this, Hazare’s failing health has virtually crippled Team Anna’s plan to campaign against the Congress in the upcoming state polls. The fact that none of the contending parties are free of taint, has also raised the question for Team Anna; if it campaigns, for whom will it campaign and against whom? 
    In the midst of all this confusion, Team Anna’s most authoritative voice is possibly that of Kejriwal’s. And he has admitted that they don’t know “what should we do now”. He adds: “Some people have suggested that we should form our own political party. But we neither have the will nor the capacity to do that.” In a tone that indicate anxiety, he adds in the article that the “movement is at the crossroads today… a wrong decision could prove disastrous.” 
SEEKING SOLUTIONS 
On Cong | We are certainly not anti-Congress. There is just one agenda – we want a strong anticorruption law 
On BJP | “How can we support a party which admits the likes of Kushwaha in its folds?” On Anna | More than his physical ailment, he is suffering from a deep sense of being cheated 
On Team Anna | Some people have suggested we should form our own party. But we neither have the will nor the capacity to do that 
    —EXCERPTS FROM ARVIND KEJRIWAL’S SIGNED ARTICLE 
Anna won’t visit poll-bound states 
    Anna Hazare will not campaign in the five poll-bound states as doctors have advised him complete rest, Kiran Bedi said on Thursday. Calling off his fast on December 29, Hazare had said he would campaign against the government in the states. The 74-year-old Gandhian is being treated for bronchitis at a Pune hospital and doctors have asked him not to travel so as not to risk a relapse, Bedi said.