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Cong MPs combative, PM conciliatory, Manish apologetic New Delhi, August 25 A little later, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari apologised to Hazare for his comments slamming the social activist on alleged corruption. “In political discourse, certain things get said which inadvertently cause hurt, anguish and pain,” Tewari said outside Parliament. “I know some of my recent utterances have caused hurt to Anna Hazare. To him, I would like to say that I regret the same,” Tewari said. He was personally concerned about Hazare’s health and would like to appeal to him to end his fast, he added. “In democracy, there is always room for discourse,” said the Congress spokesman, who barely 10 days back had launched a no-holds-barred attack on Hazare. Dusting an old Justice PB Sawant Commission report, he accused the social activist of being incased in corruption from “head to toe”. The attack, clearly a part of the strategy drawn by the senior party leadership to thwart Anna, drew widespread criticism, including from his own party colleagues, following the overwhelming support for the evidently clean social activist. In the absence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, today’s meeting had specifically been convened to end the disquiet in a section of the party over the government’s handling of the situation. Sources said while some MPs criticised Hazare’s arrest and his being lodged in Tihar Jail, there were strong voices warning the government over the bending-over-backward attitude it had resorted to
lately. A senior leader said MPs were clear if the government wanted to fight, the action should be complete. “Otherwise one step ahead and four steps backward were creating problems. Strangely enough PM’s tone and tenor was completely contrary to the mood in the meeting,” he said. Lamenting the “complete disconnect” between the party and the government, he said the party meeting took place at 10.30 am where the mood was notably “hostile”. “It appears that Mukherjee never communicated the party’s feelings to the PM, who later went on a completely different tangent. Maybe he wants to give Anna a long rope to hang himself,” he said. Sources said several MPs, like Sisram Ola and KV Thomas, pointed out the RSS-BJP conspiracy behind the movement, saying that the issue should be dealt with head-on. Prabha Thakur and Jyoti Mirdha wanted the government’s point of view to be communicated in a better way to the people. Mukherjee on his part explained that the Lokpal Bill had not been brought to Parliament under any pressure but as part of the commitment of the Congress-led UPA. Later speaking to mediapersons, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said Mukherjee informed MPs about the draft of a Lokpal Bill when he chaired the standing committee. He said the new bill was prepared following emphasis laid by Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the UPA returned to power in 2009. “When it (Lokpal Bill) was presented in Parliament, it was not done under any pressure but as part of commitment of the Congress and the UPA,” he said. Notwithstanding 'regret', Anna to sue Tewari
Pune: Even as Congress spokesman Manish Tewari today expressed regret over his remarks, Anna Hazare's lawyer said a case of defamation would be filed against the Lok Sabha MP in a court here next week. “We will file a case against Manish Tewari under IPC Section 500,” said advocate Milind
Pawar.
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