Team Anna’s Kejriwal says 14 union ministers are corrupt

Arvind Kejriwal, the public interest activist and core member of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement team, today gave a public reply to breach of privilege notices served on him by MPs for "insulting" Parliament, saying all political parties are responsible for bringing Parliament to disrepute as 163 MPs with criminal background have managed to get into it.

''How can one respect an institution, which has as many as 162 members with a criminal background,'' he wondered in a public letter.

"There was a Parliament in which [former prime minister] Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned (from the post of railway minister) following a train accident. I would sacrifice anything for such a Parliament, but how will I respect Parliament of present days," Kejriwal said in the letter.

Talking to reporters today, Kejriwal also said that 'team Anna' will soon write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh providing evidence against 14 union cabinet ministers whom he called "corrupt".

He said Hazare has set a deadline of August to register cases against these ministers and warned the government that they will launch a 'jail bharo' [fill the jails] agitation if this is not done.

He also said that industrialists who were not known for any public service have managed to get into Parliament through various parties. "They enter Parliament to further their business interests. If this is not misuse of Parliament, if this is not an insult to Parliament, then what is it?" he asked.

Besides Congress MP Sajjan Singh Verma, RJD MPs Rajniti Prasad and Ram Kripal Yadav had served a privilege notice against Kejriwal for calling MPs "rapists, murderers and looters" during an election campaign rally last month. The Lok Sabha secretariat has sought reply from Kejriwal following the notices.