New Delhi: The fight between the Congress and Team Anna got personal on Sunday with the former calling anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare an RSS agent after a photograph showing him with RSS's Nanaji Deshmukh emerged in a Hindi daily.
The newspaper reported that Anna had worked under Deshmukh's leadership in 1983.
Reacting on the report, Congress leaders Rashid Alvi and Digvijaya Singh wasted no time in terming the anti-corruption crusader as an agent of RSS.
Digvijaya posted a tweet saying, "Anna Hazare has worked with Nanaji Deshmukh, I have not worked with him. The RSS has written a book about Anna Hazare. They don't write about me, they only direct insults at me."
Meanwhile, Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma also joined the tirade calling Anna an Army deserter.
However, Team Anna did not hesitate in giving a tit-for tat-response. Key member Kiran Bedi also posted a picture of Digvijaya Singh sharing a dais with Nanaji Deshmukh, questioning his RSS links.
Anna's closest associate Arvind Kejriwal also hit out at the Congress party saying things were said about Anna as the party did not have anything else to speak about. He, however, focused more on the modus operandi of the agitation by his team.
"When they don't have anything to say they are saying these things. We will be encouraging people to sit on a peaceful Dharna outside the residences of politicians from all the parties that are opposing the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. If they are stopped, then they should allow themselves to be arrested," said Kejriwal.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also attacked the Congress over the issue terming it as mudslinging.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar said, "Nanaji Deshmukh was a great person. He has worked with lots of people. What's wrong if Anna met him? Congress has lost the plot that's why it is creating an issue."
Meanwhile, in another development, Anna Hazare on Sunday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and members of Parliament, hoping that the best possible law emerges from the debate in Parliament scheduled on December 27.
The letter asked MPs to ensure that the country gets a real anti-corruption law, allowing the Lokpal and the Lokayuktas to initiate suo moto investigations and carry out independent probes.
The letter further said that the jurisdictions of the Lokpal or the Lokayuktas should include Class C and D officers directly.
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