Even as Mumbai, braces itself for the Anna fast and we loudly reiterate our committment to fight against corruption, one cannot ignore the news of Anna Hazare’s alleged involvement with the saffron brigade. Below are some stories published in order that you can take an informed decision.

* Anna Hazare was an ‘active RSS Pracharak,’ reveals media report
* From Babri demolition to supporting Anna Hazare: Changing strategies of RSS politics
* Congress links Anna with RSS

New Delhi, December 26, 2011:  Just two days before Ana Hazare’s three-day fast at the MMRDA Ground in Mumbai on December 27, startling facts have emerged in the media, which point towards Anna Hazare’s strong association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), something which Hazare and team Anna have been categorically denying till now. According to a report published in Hindi daily “Nai Duniya” Anna Hazare was an ‘RSS Pracharak’ who received his ‘Diksha’ from senior RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh in 1983 in Gonda.

According to this report, as a very close aid of senior RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh, Anna Hazare learnt and developed his worldview of village development because of his works on the issue while he was with RSS. It was this worldview, which he later replicated and experimented at Ralegan Siddhi.

RSS, on several occasions has acknowledged and accepted its open and tacit support of Hazare’s so called anti-corruption campaign. In fact, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had, at the organisation’s annual Dussehra rally in Nagpur in October 2011 said that its volunteers “are already active in all movements against corruption without craving for their own position and credit”.

According to this report, Hazare worked on several RSS projects, shoulder to shoulder with Deshmukh. He used to be the general secretary of one RSS affiliate group which was headed by Nanaji Deshmukh.

One old picture has also surfaced in the media, in which Anna Hazare is shown in company of the senior RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh. Deshmukh had praised Anna Hazare in several RSS meetings and it was on his insistence only that Anna is seen as a very respectable figure in RSS.

Interestingly till now Anna Hazare himself or his team haven’t commented or disputed the claims made in the report.

According to this Nai Dinuya report which goes in detail about Anna Hazare’s involvement in RSS activities Hazare was actively involved with several projects related to village development which were started by Nanaji Deshmukh. “Gram Wishva’ (Village World), an organization devoted to the development of village, was established with Hazare being a very active member of the group.

According to Ramprakash Gupta, who had attended meetings with Nanaji Deshmukh, in 1983 an important 3-days meeting of Gram Wishva was organized in which Anna Hazare actively participated in the meetings with Nanaji Deshmukh.

Even though Anna Hazare and his team have categorically denied his RSS connection in the past, the recent evidence of Anna Hazare’s links with RSS, is some thing which Anna Hazare and his team will find very hard to dispute.

This development has emboldened and provided the Congress and its allies with fresh evidence of Anna Hazare’s RSS links. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has criticized Anna Hazare for hiding his RSS connection till now.

“And he denied any association with RSS! Now whom do we believe Facts with Picture and the claim of RSS or Anna? I am again proved right”, tweeted Singh.

Digvijaya Singh has in the past, accused Mr Hazare of being hand in gloves with the RSS. He had also alleged that Hazare’s fast against corruption at the Ramlila Maidan in August this year had the backing of the right-wing group with the latter’s members also participating in the event.

Political activist Shehzad Poonawalla, who has since the beginning doubted the purpose of the Anna campaign, said: “I had always maintained that the Anna movement is nothing but a Jansangh sponsored event. Their aim is simple – enforce mid term polls upon the country perhaps to dislodge ongoing investigations into saffron terror by the NIA.”

Poonawalla says that Sangh since the exposure of saffron terror has tried to scuttle the terror probes.

“The Jansangh has always been finding ways and means to scuttle the investigations of right wing terror by saffron groups and almost got an allergic attack when the Communal Violence Bill came into the public domain. Thereafter they have used Anna Hazare to deflect attention from issues like Modi’s culpability in 2002 riots, communal violence and food security bill,” alleges Poonawalla.