By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress party Monday declined to comment on the letter social activist Anna Hazare wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in which he criticised the comments of party leaders Digvijay Singh and Kapil Sibal against him, but it said “public discourse should not be a one-way traffic”.
“Public discourse should not be a one-way traffic. That will be the death of democracy. There should be a holistic approach,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.
Earlier in the day, Hazare released a letter he wrote to Gandhi, criticising the comments of Singh and Sibal that “he (Hazare) has been influenced”.
“One of the general secretaries of the Congress party (Digvijay Singh) has been making many statements in the press in the last one week. I assume that he has the support of the party to make such remarks,” Hazare said in his letter.
“Most of these statements are factually wrong, which makes one believe whether his only intention is to create confusion, mislead people and derail the ongoing discussions in joint committee. Do you personally approve of his statements?” Hazare asked Gandhi in the letter.
“In a democracy, everyone is entitled to his view point”, Tewari said and added that he did not want to be “drawn into the contents of the letter”.
Singh told a TV channel that Hazare has been “surrounded by a coterie”. He also objected to Hazare’s praise for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Sibal, who is human resource development minister, allegedly told reporters at a “de-briefing” that Hazare has been “influenced” by vested interests.
Regarding Sibal’s comments, Tewari said the issue was whether there was “sanctity for de-briefing of media in a political process”. Those who ciriticise it should “acquaint with the process of politics and media”, Tewari added.
Hazare’s 97-hour fast here was called off April 9 after the government agreed to form a joint committee comprising five ministers and five civil society leaders to draft a stringent Lokpal Bill.