Team Annas Arvind Kejriwal waved a copy of The Indian Express at Ramlila Maidan today claiming the newspaper was wrong in its report,Allies Hegde,Agnivesh come out for Anna but slam his team. The report quoted both as being critical of Annas continuing fast and the teams handling of the issue. Addressing the crowd,Kejriwal said,I have spoken to Justice Santosh Hegde and he told me he never told The Indian Express that he was not a part of Team Anna.. Justice Hegde ne mujhe kaha ki aap Indian Express se puche agar main team Anna mein nahi hota,toh main pichle teen dino se Bangalore ke Freedom Park mein kyun baitha hota? (Justice Hegde told me to ask The Indian Express that if I am not in Team Anna,why am I sitting in protest at Bangalores Freedom Park?). Kejriwal said he would like to make a humble request to The Indian Express to refrain from publishing incorrect articles. Kejriwal did not comment on Swami Agniveshs strong criticism of Team Anna. When contacted today,Justice Hegde reiterated and underlined the same remark that Kejriwal denied. I feel I am not in Team Anna any more by the way things are going. Those who are telling Parliament what to do are not following the democratic traditions. I cant justify these things that you give command to Parliament. I have been a judge and I believe in certain democratic principles. And to me,its very difficult to digest, he told The Indian Express on Friday. This is an echo of what he told the newspaper on Thursday that Anna must stop his fast and he could be used as a tool for social change for good causes but could be misused too. There are too many people with their own agenda in this group, he had said. I dont think I really belong to this group. (In fact,he repeated these same comments in an interview to Press Trust of India,too,on Friday. I feel I am not in Team Anna any more by the way things are going, he said.) Asked if other members of Team Anna were consulting him,Hegde told The Indian Express: That is why I told you,I dont think I am still in that team. They dont tell us anything.all decisions are theirs. Having said that,let me tell you,I am still with Annaji. I want him to live long as does the rest of the country. His life cant be endangered. I asked Arvind (Kejriwal) and others to make him end the fast.I dont know if they tried. Asked if Anna should break his fast even though the government has not accepted all his demands,Hegde,who was a member of the 10-member Joint Drafting Committee to draft the Lokpal Bill,said: I want him to break his fast. If something were to happen to Annaji,the nation would not forgive any of us. He also dismissed AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhis suggestion in Parliament that the Lokpal should be an EC-like constitution body as a long-term plan. The country cant want for another 42 years,he said. Asked if he was ready to believe that the UPA government is committed to setting up the institution of Lokpal,Hegde said,During the meetings of the Joint Drafting Committee for Lokpal Bill,I felt cheated many times. And,there is still suspicion in my mind. But,in the last 11 days,things have changed. Now,the entire country is witnessing the double standards of the government.
