Major rift in team Anna over Ramdev?

A major rift emerged at a Team Anna core committee meeting in Noida yesterday with member Mufti Shamoon Qasmi being asked to stay away from the proceedings after he was reportedly found recording discussions on his mobile phone and transmitting it outside.

Team Anna was discussing the group's future strategies, including their alliance with yoga guru Baba Ramdev, when Qasmi was reportedly found recording the proceedings chaired by Anna Hazare, who has now decided to launch a nationwide campaign from June for a strong Lokpal.

Men on a mission: Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will jointly sit on a day's token fast in Delhi June 3 to press for a strong Lokpal Bill and to mobilise opinion against black money. File pic

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan said that when Qasmi was asked about the recording, as "this was a breach of our trust", he denied any knowledge about the matter. The recording was "accidental," Bhushan quoted Qasmi as saying.

"When we told him to accept his mistake, he got angry. Anna also requested him to exercise restraint, but he stormed out. It has come to our knowledge that he's been speaking rubbish outside," Bhushan said.

Indicating that the wedge had widened, another senior activist from the group, Arvind Kejriwal, said Qasmi had been caught "red-handed" just like Swami Agnivesh, who was found relaying the details of meetings of Team Anna to ministers in the government at the peak of Hazare's fast at Ramlila ground in Delhi last year.

Team Anna member Shazia Ilmi too was critical of Qasmi. Ilmi said the team had confronted Qasmi, asking him, "You are a member of the core committee, the discussion is going on and you are recording and relaying it outside. Further, you are claiming that you are doing this since you are a Muslim? It was a very unethical thing to do and using one's religion to excuse an inexcusable action is even worse." Ilmi said the team had found "three recordings" when they checked Qasmi's phone.

Asked whether Qasmi was expelled from the meeting, Team Anna member Kumar Vishwas said that he was only asked to leave the meeting for some time. "It is his decision to leave the movement or not. We have just asked him not to attend the meeting for some time," he added.

When asked about the the alliance with Baba Ramdev, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi claimed that while the two campaigns were independent, Hazare and Ramdev could combine their voices against graft. "We believe that if the corrupt can come together, then those who oppose them, can also join hands," she said. - u00a0