Anti-corruption crusader says allegations levelled against him are false; dares government to act against him if it believes that he, his team members are anti-nationals
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Social activist Anna Hazare yesterday said all allegations against him and his team are baseless and false and he was disappointed with the statements by Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) V Narayanasamy. In response to the minister's allegations against Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, Hazare dared the government to act against him if he and his team members were anti-nationals.
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Matter of fact: Anna Hazare asked the central government to show the proof of foreign-funding for his movement. File pic
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"Punish me if I'm guilty," he said. "We are not backed by any foreign hand. All allegations against us from the PMO are false and baseless. This is just a trick to divert attention from the Lokpal bill," he added."Narayanasamy said Anna lacked the will to fight corruption. He says we are anti-nationals. But I'm already fighting corruption tooth and nail. What more does he want me to do? This is not right," he said.
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At the same time, Hazare asked the central government to show the proof of foreign-funding for my movement.u00a0"I have been accused of not giving an account of the money which was collected at Ramlila Maidan (venue of his protest in Delhi)," he said. u00a0"This is completely wrong. Account of every penny is there for everyone to see. We are in the clear. We have posted it online. We have even got the accounts audited. What more do they want?" he said.u00a0
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Hazare, in turn, demanded that the government and various political parties give account of the money they collected.u00a0Reiterating his call for a strong Lokpal, Hazare again questioned the will of the government to fight corruption. "Government is not serious about passing an anti-graft bill," he said. "This is cheating the people again. The government has cheated and betrayed the people of the nation at all levels," he said.u00a0
