By IANS,
Mumbai : Taking pot shots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yet again, social activist Anna Hazare criticised him over the auction of coal blocks during the period he held the coal portfolio.
Hazare said there was “room for suspicion” and that he does think the prime minister to be a clean and honest man who has to function under “remote control.”
“The loss to the state exchequer is around Rs.2 lakh crore. The prime minister may not have directly benefited but the money has gone somewhere. There should be a probe by a retired judge,” Hazare said Tuesday in Mumbai, where he arrived to resume his five-week Maharashtra state tour that started on May 1.
Hazare also dismissed reports about differences in Team Anna even as yoga guru Ramdev snubbed core team member Arvind Kejriwal at a joint rally Sunday in New Delhi.
“There were no differences over the issue of Ramdev visiting BJP president Nitin Gadkari, and the yoga guru’s disapproval of Kejriwal for naming the ministers in their rally in Delhi. There are no problems among us. The media is creating it,” he said.
Replying to a query on why Team Anna is not moving court on the issue of corruption charges against 15 ministers, including the prime minister, Hazare said by the time the judgment comes, the tenure of these ministers would end.
Hazare has been on a state-wide tour to create awareness about the need for a strong anti-corruption Lokayukta legislation in Maharashtra. The tour will end June 6.