Core committee will be expanded soon: Anna

New Delhi: After the controversy over whether his core committee will be revamped or not, Anna Hazare has said that Team Anna's core committee will be expanded soon.

He said this after a meeting of the core committee at Ralegaon Siddhi on Sunday. It will comprise not more than 50 members. The committee currently has 24 members.

Anna Hazare also said the core committee members will be bound by a code of conduct which will be finalised by the month-end. He said there will be a strict monitoring system for the members.

"In today's meeting we decided that members who will join core committee will be selected first, then given training to strengthen foundation. Core committee will consists of not more than 50 people, working committee will have less people," he said.

On the backfoot for targeting the Congress only, Anna also said he was not against the Congress but just want Lokpal bill passed at the earliest.

Sticking to his previous stand, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday said that the investigating agency CBI should not be brought under government.

"CBI should not be brought under government. CBI did a good job because of which corrupt people are behind jails," he said.

Putting rumours to rest, Anna Hazare on Sunday made it clear that he will not form any committee, fearing unwanted people may join.

"We will not make any committee, as we fear that many unwanted people may come. We seek volunteers like we saw thousands of volunteers on August 16," Hazare said.

Making his stand clear he also said that he was not against Congress.

"We are not against Congress. I have told Congress to bring Jan Lokpal Bill," he said.

However, he said that he will again protest if the Bill is not passed in winter session.

"If the bill is not brought in the winter session of parliament then again we will go for a protest across the nation. We need to know what is wrong with Jan Lokpal Bill. We don't support Bill being broken into pieces," he said.

Anna Hazare said he wanted other states to bring in Lokpal Bill like Uttrakhand.

"The way Jan Lokpal Bill was brought in Uttarakhand, the same way bill should be brought in other states. We are not saying that same bill should be brought, but a law to finish corruption should be brought," he said.

"We will give priorities to Gram Sabha, we will strengthen Gram Sabha's," he said.

On the need for his personal security, he said, "Did Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru ask for security. If security could have saved life then Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi would have been alive. There is no need for security. I have written to the government to take off security. We have the security of people behind us."

With Team Anna members coming under attack, Anna Hazare on Sunday said the core committee will be expanded but a 'sharp eye' will be kept on new members so that people with only clean background are part of the movement.

The 74-year-old activist said he will not pick just any one for the committee and a background check will be conducted before inducting new members.

"One thing good about this agitation is that people have come forward. Thousands of people have come up. People are

ready to join the protest. Now, we just have to search the people. We will find good people," he said after a meeting of the core committee.

"Now, we will keep a sharp check on all the new members of the committee. I won't pick just any," he said.

"We have many people ready to serve, We will send our people to check their background. Will check if they have police case. A person of character will be chosen. A graduate, Muslim, Dalit, adivasi, all will be taken," he said.

However, the number in the core committee will not go beyond 80, he said.

His comments come close on the heels of Team Anna members facing flak after getting engulfed in a series of controversies including financial misconduct.

Noting that the country runs on laws, he said, "If today Jan Lokpal comes, we also have to make other laws in future.

By the time the country becomes corruption-free, we will have to make new and different laws".

He said a meeting will be held in Delhi as soon as possible where the working committee will be selected.

"We will do the selection of the working committee and we will also train them. Training is very important whether it is for two-three days but it is important. After training, our foundation will be strong.

"We do not have any set agenda for the meeting but we got the link and we have discussed all this today," he said.

(With additional inputs from PTI)