Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal has become a target of the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially after his expose against Nitin Gadakri where the former accused the BJP president of colluding with the ruling Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra for furthering his business interests at the cost of farmers.
Thereafter, the BJP has gone on the offensive.
Prabhat Jha, editor of the BJP mouthpiece Kamal Sandesh, said on Wednesday that there was an urgent need to probe the source of funds behind Kejriwal's anti-corruption campaign. He also accused Kejriwal of shaking up the democratic set-up of the country. An editorial in the BJP publication too has voiced similar sentiments.
In a sharp criticism of Kejriwal, Jha told rediff.com that the former Team Anna member would end up like a fused bulb in politics. "We have no doubt that he has foreign funding and the source needs to be traced in national interest.
There are vested interests funding him to break up democracy in India," the editor alleged.
"I would like to question how he is running his movement. Getting into politics is no ordinary job and he needs funding for the same. He has been questioning national parties, which are pillars of democracy. Both these national parties (BJP and the Congress) have put in over 100 years of service to ensure that India is a great democracy, and Kejriwal who has started out recently is trying to destabilise that on the basis of mere allegations," he added.
According to Jha, it is the duty of the Union government to investigate the matter and find out who is funding Kejriwal. "It is not for me to tell you the names. He is playing a dangerous game. First, he took on Robert Vadra and after that he thought that the Congress would blame him for playing into the hands of the BJP. This is why he decided to target Nitin Gadkari by distorting facts," the editor said.
"How can one trust Kejriwal? He could not remain loyal to Anna Hazare because of whom he came into the limelight. He is nothing but a backstabber and such persons do not enjoy a moral right to accuse others," he concluded.
