Jan Lokpal Bill: Government underestimated Anna Hazare's movement, says Anil Shastri

NEW DELHI: In yet another indication of the growing discomfort in sections of Congress with the handling of the Anna Hazare crisis, a senior party leader today said Government underestimated the Gandhian's movement against corruption and asked it to enter into dialogue with him.

"Anna's movement against corruption was underestimated by by government. It is time that it entered into dialogue with him to end his fast," Anil Shastri, who is a Special Invitee to Congress Working Committee, said on twitter.

Shastri, former editor of party mouthpiece Congress Sandesh, now heads the newly-created Hindi Vibhag of AICC.

During the last few days of his tenure as editor of Congress Sandesh, his remarks in an editorial in the journal criticising the government's step of sending three ministers to receive Yoga Guru Ramdev had stoked a controversy and the party had officially distanced itself from his remarks.

In yet another tweet, Shastri without naming Union Minister Virbhadra Singh, described his remark that even a 'madari' (conjurer) could gather crowds as "in bad taste".

In his tweet, Shastri said, "A senior Union minister says even a 'madari' could gather crowds. This is in bad taste. Anna's crowd is a movement against corruption."

In a veiled attack on anti-graft agitation led by Anna Hazare, Singh had said a few days back that people should not be carried away by the size of crowd in the country of one billion as even a "madari" draws good crowd.

Asked about his tweets, Shastri said many party MPs are feeling uncomfortable due to the police action against Hazare. He cited the example of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's son and MP Sandip Dikshit, who categorically said the decision to arrest Anna Hazare was wrong.