Sonia Gandhi reaches out to Anna Hazare

New Delhi: Responding to Anna Hazare’s complaint against her “colleagues”, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday assured him that she does not support “politics of smear campaign” and she was strongly committed to the institution of Lokpal.Writing to Hazare, the chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC) said she believes there is “urgent necessity” to combat graft and corruption and he should not “doubt my commitment in the fight for probity in public life”.She pointed out that the Lokpal bill is very much part of the agenda of the NAC and a working group has been formed to evolve broad principles for discussion and approval in the next meeting of the Council on April 28.”As for the statements appearing in the media, let me assure you that I do not support nor encourage the politics of smear campaigns,” Gandhi said in her letter to Hazare. “Lokpal bill was very much a part of the agenda of the NAC,” she added.She was replying to Hazare’s letter sent on Monday in which the social activist said a “smear” campaign had been launched against civil society members of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill and asked her to advise her “colleagues” not to try to derail the process of drafting of law.He particularly complained against an unnamed minister, who is part of the 10-member joint drafting committee and a party general secretary, believed to be Digvijay Singh who has been attacking his campaign.