The gloves are off between Team Annaand the Congress- led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The day Anna Hazare and his team returned to Jantar Mantar to launch an indefinite protest and raised allegations of corruption against UPA ministers, the Congress responded by displaying its arrogant side.

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid – a key interlocutor with Team Anna during their agitation at Ramlila Maidan last year – on Wednesday took a swipe at the social activists for their volley of allegations against the government, saying if they did not have confidence in the law of the land, they should approach the supreme international body – the United Nations.

“They are raising issues which have been rejected by the Supreme Court and if they do not have any faith in it, they could approach the United Nations. They should write to the UN,” he said. Khurshid was reacting to Team Anna’s demand for setting up of a special investigating team to probe the corruption charges against 15 Union ministers, and sending those cases to a fast–track court. Scoffing at their emphasis over an ‘independent probe’, he said: “In India, what can be more independent than the Supreme Court? They want an independent probe into matters which have been rejected and disapproved by the Supreme Court.”

Taking on Khurshid over his “go to the UN” jibe, Team Anna member and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan challenged him to respond to the allegations. “This shows arrogance on his part. This has been said to taunt us, saying ‘do whatever you want to, we don’t care’. They should respond to the allegations rather than make such statements,” he told Mail Today . Bhushan also trashed the law minister’s claim that the apex court had rejected their demand for probe against the ministers.

“We have not raised any issue which has been rejected by the Supreme Court. It’s a false statement. Secondly, we are demanding an independent probe. The CBI is under the government. Had Lokpal been there, it could have conducted the investigations. The CBI investigating the 2G case has given a clean chit to home minister P.Chidambaram, against which we have filed an appeal. The judgment is reserved in the matter.Some matters are pending before the courts but none has been rejected,” he said.

Khurshid’s dig at Team Anna comes a month after he held a secret meeting with Hazare in Nasik on June 23. The apparent effort to broker a truce between Team Anna and the government appears to have had little effect as the law minister was joined by other Congress leaders in mocking at Team Anna.

The BJP, however, came out in their support and condemned Khurshid’s remarks. “It’s an unfortunate statement. It is unexpected of a politician like Khurshid to speak in this manner. This is a domestic issue and not an international one that it has to be taken to the UN. He shouldn’t try to cover up the failure of the government in this manner,” BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Hussain’s views were echoed by BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who said the corruption charges had caused restlessness in Congress circles. “It is a bizarre statement. One does not expect such comments from Khurshid. The people of the country are listening to the voices against corruption and this mocking statement will prove very costly for him and the Congress,” Rudy said.

The BJP’s ally, the Janata Dal-United, too backed Team Anna.The party’s Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar Ansari said: “The statement is absurd. Had the UPA put a strong Lokpal in place, why the UN, there would be no need to go to even Jantar Mantar.” The Congress, however, appeared unmoved by the heat raised by social activists. Khurshid comments are a clear indication that the government is in no mood to appease the agitators or bow to their demands. Many in the Congress believe that Arvind Kejriwal and his team should be allowed to exhaust themselves as they did during their agitation in Mumbai.

“The basic motive of a dharna and hunger strike is to draw the attention of the government.Unfortunately, Anna team has made it a joke. Their demand to set up an inquiry against 15 ministers on the basis of the documents they have is unacceptable. If they have any proof, they should knock the door of the court rather than misguide the nation,” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said.

On Team Anna’s allegations that the Lokpal Bill was being deliberately delayed, the party’s argument is that the law and constitutional process will take their own course. Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha select committee that is studying the Lokpal Bill, conceded on Wednesday that panel would not be able to clear the Bill to be tabled during the monsoon session. Mail Today had first reported on July 3 on the select committee report getting delayed. The report is likely to be pushed to the winter session.

The select committee was supposed to submit its report to the Upper House by August 22. But Chaturvedi said: “The committee, for various reasons, was constituted late by 40 days and we have just started our work. It would not be possible to submit the report by the declared time.” He asserted that the committee was only answerable to the House, he asserted and asked Team Anna to change their views “inspired by cheap publicity”. Earlier in the day, Team Anna members Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai sat on an indefinite fast, demanding constitution of an SIT of three retired SC judges to probe the 15 ministers against whom they had levelled corruption charges. Hazare said he would join the fast on July 29 if the demand is not met by then.

Soon after the protest began, there was a minor scuffle when 20- odd persons wearing Anna caps stared shouting slogan against Hazare and Kejriwal. Team Anna alleged they were members of the National Students Union of India, the student wing of the Congress.
They were shooed away by the volunteers.

As they launched a no-holds-barred attack on the integrity of members of the UPA cabinet, Team Anna did not spare even Pranab Mukherjee, who took oath as the 13th President of India in the morning. At the protest site, his photograph was covered with a cloth. Kejriwal alleged that the Congress had managed to put a veil on the allegations against him.”It is unfortunate that Constitution, which grants immunity to the President against any allegation, has now become a shield for him,” Kejriwal said.