Congress using PM's honesty as shield: Kejriwal

Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal today clarified that his team is not against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and will be happy if the premiere comes out clean of the controversy. “If allegations against the prime minister are proved wrong, we’ll be happy,” Kejriwal told reporters at Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.[caption id=“attachment_326074” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan addressing a press conference in Ghaziabad on Tuesday. PTI”] [/caption] “Everyone is united on the probe front but some of the team members do have differences with the Shikhandi remark,” he said. “We have the deepest regard for the prime minister…but we want to know which agency can register an FIR against a minister,” Kejriwal said. Another Team Anna member lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday accused the prime minister of turning a blind eye to corruption and said that the Congress was using Manmohan Singh as a shield like Shikhandi. Kejriwal also supported that the Singh’s honesty is being used by other Congress leaders as a shield for their misdeeds. On the coal auction controversy, he said, “PMO overruled coal secretary’s noting on auction of coal blocks.” On Tuesday, Singh aboard the special aircraft on his return journey from Myanmar to New Delhi told the accompanying media personnel that Team Anna’s recent corruption allegations against him and other ministers are irresponsible and unfortunate. “I will give up my public life if allegations are proved against me,” Singh said. “It is unfortunate that irresponsible allegations relating to irregularities in allocation of coal blocks are being made without confirming facts,” the prime minister said. Reacting to the Shikhandi comment, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad defended the prime minister and criticised Team Anna for indulging in disrespectful comments. “I dissociate myself not from the team but from a particular word used against the prime minister. According to me it should not be used against anyone in a polite conversation,” justice (retired) Santosh Hegde told Times Now on Tuesday. Shikhandi is a character in the Mahabharata, who was used by the Pandavas to kill Bhishma. Knowing that Bhishma would not attack Shikhandi, Arjuna hid behind Shikhandi and attacked Bhishma with a volley of arrows.