Hazare rubbishes rumours that Suresh Pathare has been expelled from team, says he is doing so for personal reasons
Anna Hazare’s accountant Suresh Pathare submitted his resignation two days ago, but rumour mills have been churning out various reasons behind his sudden step.u00a0While the first to head the list is that a CD of a recent interview with a Delhi-based media channel made its way to Hazare showing Pathare saying that money comes to the group via Arvind Kejriwal and hawala rackets.u00a0Pathare rubbished the charges stating that the audio track of the CD has been edited and said he decided to move on for personal reasons.u00a0
Pathare submitted his resignation, but the final decision will be taken by the executive council of Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan Samiti in Ralegan Siddhi soon.u00a0Hazare and all of Pathare’s senior colleagues in the office rubbished charges that he was expelled and said other allegations were false and far-fetched.u00a0
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Family comes first: Suresh Pathare (second from left) with his family members. Pic/Krunal Gosavi
Pathare was also accused of behaving rudely with those wanting to meet Hazare. During a visit to Ralegan Siddhi yesterday, MiD DAY spoke to Hazare. He said there is no truth in the charges and were fabricated by a section of the electronic media. u00a0“Pathare resigned solely for personal reasons,” Anna said. u00a0Anil Sharma, senior office-bearer and PA to Anna also trashed the charges.u00a0
“It is true that Pathare is young and hot-tempered. But has never ill-treated anybody who came to visit Anna. He was not the PA, but a chief accountant and looks after our financial transactions,” Sharma said.u00a0Hazare’s second PA Datta Awari said there was no doubting Pathare’s integrity and his commitment to work. “My stand is absolutely clear and I am leaving because of family problems. There is no quarrel with Anna and I assured him that I would rejoin whenever I find time,” Pathare said.
He said his father Rajaram is a chronic diabetic and his sugar level has crossed 200, which is beyond the permissible limit. He has an eight-year-old son and owns a small farmhouse and cattle, and runs a small dairy business. “It was difficult for me to look after my family and handle domestic financial problems as well. It has ultimately led me to take this unhappy decision. I used to get Rs 8,000 for working in Anna’s office, which was not enough to run my home. But money is not the sole reason as I also need to look after my family, which is facing many crucial problems,” Pathare said.
Pathare said the controversial CD was sent to a lab in Hyderabad for voice analysis and he was given a clean chit. “Anna’s movement was receiving money via Hawala racket, in which my word ‘not’ was deleted. My words have been deliberately edited in other statements in the CD to make my statement positive, when in fact I had stated the negative,” Pathare said.u00a0
Colonel unhappy
Col (Retd) Suresh Patil, founder president Green Thumb Environmental Group had alleged that Pathare was arrogant and often interfered with communication with Anna. He also said that his behaviour was rude when he personally went to see Anna at Ralegan Siddhi to request support for his candidature for the President of India post.u00a0
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