Anna Hazare to put together new team, draw road-map for anti-graft crusade: Hegde

After disbanding his team, Anna Hazare is working on plans to stitch a new team in the crusade against corruption for which he has convened a meeting of like-minded people by the end of this month.

Former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, who was part of erstwhile Team Anna disbanded by the social activist on August 6, said Hazare told him about the plans when he met him during his week-long stay here for naturopathy treatment.

"He (Hazare) is going to call a meeting of all like-minded people by the end of this month and he will work out a strategy based on views expressed there (the meeting)," Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, said here today. "It will draw up a road-map for the future," he added.

Asked if members of the erstwhile team would be part of the new one, Hegde said: "Must be, why would he (Hazare) exclude (them). That's what he told me," and added: "the new team may have different outlook."

"I think he will include more people (compared to erstwhile Team Anna)," he said. Team Anna was set up in Hazare's name to press Parliament and government for a strong Lokpal bill.

On whether the new team's movement would be apolitical, Hegde said, "That will be decided (at the meeting). That's an issue that's already there with people having different opinions about that."

Hazare, meanwhile, rejected suggestions of differences in the erstwhile Team Anna. "You will see that we will fight unitedly".

He said people's mandate is no longer with the UPA government and that this would get reflected in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's rejection of the opposition BJP's demand for his resignation on the coal allocation issue, Hazare told reporters:" People's mandate is not with them (now). It will show in 2014 (Lok Sabha poll)".

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