Phoned Anna Hazare several times, but could not talk: Kiran Bedi

NEW DELHI: Kiran Bedi, who recently joined BJP, today said she had tried several times to talk to Anna Hazare over the phone but was not able to do so as the anti- corruption crusader was either "sleeping or taking rest".

Bedi, a former IPS officer and member of Hazare's core team when he was leading his anti-corruption campaign, was reacting to reports that the latter was unhappy over her failure to inform him about her move to join BJP.

Bedi said she would call him again tomorrow. "I called Anna-ji on the telephone; sometimes he was sleeping and sometimes he was taking rest. I tried calling Anna-ji yesterday and will again call him tomorrow," Bedi told the media when asked about the reports that Hazare was unhappy with her.

Bedi said she knows what Hazare would say to her and added that he would "smile".

Bedi, 65, entered the BJP fold in the presence of its Chief Amit Shah and Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan at the party's headquarters here on January 15. The saffron outfit has said that she will contest the February 7 Delhi Assembly elections.

Bedi and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal were part of Hazare's core team when the anti-corruption activist was leading his agitation to press for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.