Kejriwal Diverting Team Anna Donations to his Trust, Alleges Swami Agnivesh

Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Oct 23: Swami Agnivesh who was once part of Team Anna, on Sunday October 23 alleged that funds received from public was being deposited in a trust run by Arvind Kejriwal, and that names of key members of the team were missing from it.

Times Now on Sunday quoted Agnivesh stating that Kejriwal was diverting the funds to his trust called Public Cause Research Foundation, and that names of Team members, including that of Anna Hazare himself, were not included in the trust.

Earlier on Saturday, Agnivesh had accused Kejriwal of siphoning off Rs 70-80 lacs donated to Team Anna by the public by diverting it to his Foundation.

"Even Justice Santosh Hegde, who has a clean image, does not have his name in the trust. So, the main members of the team were not part of the Trust and the old trust where Kejriwal and his members were part...the money was deposited in their name," he alleged.
 
Agnivesh further said that though Anna had instructed Kejriwal to conduct an audit and make details of the donations public by publishing it online by October 15, it has not been done so far.

"I have said this because if they do it as soon as possible, there won't be any doubt and question. If they will delay, people would question why the accounts are not given," he said.

However, he took care to add, "I am not blaming Kejriwal that he is deliberately doing so and does not want transparency. I am also not saying there is some fraud and corruption in accounts."

"India Against Corruption campaign is about transparency. When we are fighting against corruption, then transparency is the main and important part of it, accountability is second part of it," he said.

Agnivesh was part of Team Anna until his removal after a controversial video clip involving him created a storm. In the clip, he was shown talking to union minister Kapil Sibal against the Team.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, in reaction to the allegations, asked whether Agnivesh has any evidence of him siphoning off donations, the channel reported. Team Anna too brushed aside the allegations and said it emerged out of 'anger'.

"Our accounts are already on the website. We have conducted a special audit for the last six months and by the month end we are putting the details on the website," said a Team Anna member.

"We have no animosity with Swami Agnivesh. He could have said something out of anger. It's not in our custom to rebut against anything that an elderly says. He is a good person and we all respect him," he added.

This comes in the midst of attacks, both verbal and physical, against several key Team Anna members, including Prashant Bhushan, Kejriwal himself and Kiran Bedi. In addition, two of the core committee members, Rajendra Singh and P V Rajagopal have already quit over diversion of the movement in politics.