After a hiatus, veteran social activist Anna Hazare has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reminding him that he is not delivering on his pre-electoral promises to bring back black money in 100 days and building a corruption-free India.
“There is no visible difference” between the UPA-II and Modi-led regimes, he added.
Wishing Modi for the New Year, Hazare once again reminded him of his pre-poll promises.
“After the countrywide agitation against growing corruption in the Congress-led regime, you had promised that if you came to power, you would give priority to ensure a corruption-free India…People believed you and voted you to power…but there seems to be no visible difference between that government and yours,” he said, adding that even now people have “to pay money to get work done.”
Modi, who rode to power emboldened by the anti-graft agitation led by Hazare, had promised to check spiralling price rise and corruption and bring black money in 100 days.
“Neither has price rise been controlled…and as regards your promise of bringing back black money and depositing ₹15 lakh in each account within 100 days, not even ₹15 has come so far”, Hazare wrote.
Another agitation Sounding hurt and resigned to not getting any response from Modi, Hazare hinted at launching another agitation.
“Power is in your hands. It seems that power is also a kind of intoxication.
“What power does a fakir (ascetic) like me have?” he wrote, adding that the only option that he had was to exercise the right given by the Constitution to “launch a movement for a corruption-free India.”
Hazare, 78, said he had written several letters to the Prime Minister and had got no response.
He cited the example of former Prime Ministers such as Narasimha Rao, who used to “occasionally speak to me on the phone over various issues”.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee “always met me when he visited Pune,” he said, adding: “I was one of the fiercest critics of Manmohan Singh’s government and even launched a movement, but he replied to all my letters …”
“May be you have forgotten all that, which is why I am writing to remind you,” he wrote, adding that many letters written by him to Modi had probably been “consigned to the dustbin and probably this one, too, will also end up there.”
Pre-poll promises Hazare lamented that in the series of Mann Ki Baat broadcast to the nation, the Prime Minister had not ever mentioned the issue of Lokpal and Lokayukta, another pre-poll promise made by him.