Arvind Kejriwal wants police to release his attacker

New Delhi: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was attacked and heckled on Tuesday as he was preparing for a meeting in Lucknow. The attempted attack came a day after the drubbing Congress party got in Hisar by-poll and a few days after the attack on Prashant Bhushan and Anna's supporters.

Speaking about the incident, Kejriwal on Thursday said, "Police must release the attacker. If he hurled the slipper, we have to sit with him and talk peacefully, we shouldn't attack him back. We should be prepared as attacks will happen. We should be tolerant to anyone who wants to insult us."

"I just want to appeal to the public to not fall into any political plot and to join hands with us in this moment. This is a golden opportunity to get rid of corruption from our country," added Kejriwal.

Pathak's uncle Kailash Pathak reacted strongly to the attack and said, "What Jitender did was wrong. He is my nephew but does not stay here in this village. We have not been in touch with him for a long time. I have no idea which political leader he is associated with or which political party he belongs to. He used to work for BJP's Ramprakash Tripathi. What he did with the Team Anna member was wrong."

Fellow Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said, "It appears that the Prashant incident was not an isolated one."

There is some ambiguity about the affiliation of the man, Jitendra Pathak, who attacked Kejriwal. He is known to be close to the BJP and has also appeared in many of Congress's rallies.

Pathak said, "I attacked Kejriwal because he said he had come to speak about corruption but then never addressed the issue."

A little later Kejriwal continued with his meeting - this time mixing his anti-Congress rhetoric with some Mayawati bashing.

In his speech Kejriwal said, "We are not permanently opposed to the Congress. If they don't bring the Jan Lokpal Bill, don't vote for the Congress. Mayawati, herself, is guilty of corruption."

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare also came out in strong support of Kejriwal and threatened to start his campaign in UP earlier than scheduled.

Anna said, "People have taken bullets, what about a few lathis? After I finish my 'maun vrat', I will go to UP."

Team Anna caught the nation's imagination by creating strong emotions against the government. Now it seems the same emotion is turning against them even if it's at a small level.

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