New Delhi, Jan. 23: The Congress today accused a think tank linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of having engineered the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption campaign to destabilise the Manmohan Singh government.

'The Vivekananda Foundation executed this conspiracy using apolitical activists who are getting unmasked on an hourly basis,' Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma alleged at a news conference. 'Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, (Aam Aadmi Party leader) Shanti Bhushan....'

The reference was to recent statements by Aam Aadmi Party functionaries projecting Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal - leaders of the Congress's two main opponents in the upcoming Delhi elections - as having been pro-BJP during the Hazare campaign days.

Sharma claimed that Hazare had been brought in only to give India Against Corruption, the civil society body that agitated against the UPA government, a recognisable face.

'Many key players of this (Vivekananda) foundation now hold top positions in the Narendra Modi government,' Sharma said.

Several former defence chiefs, intelligence officials, bureaucrats, diplomats and professionals from various fields are members of the foundation, whose website claims it is 'an independent, non-partisan institution that promotes quality research and in-depth studies and is a platform for dialogue and conflict resolution'.

Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval, who virtually headed the foundation, is now the national security adviser in the Modi government. Two other key members, Nripendra Mishra and P.K. Mishra, are principal secretary and additional principal secretary to the Prime Minister.

Another member of the think tank, A. Suryaprakash, was appointed head of the Prasar Bharati by the Modi government.

'I want to ask the two revolutionaries, Kejriwal and Bedi, where from the funds for their robust campaign came. Did the crusaders against corruption use black money to destabilise our government?' Sharma asked.

Ajay Maken, the Congress's chief spokesperson, cited how Kumar Vishwas, a prominent member of India Against Corruption and now the Aam Aadmi Party, had yesterday said that Bedi and General V.K. Singh had always supported the BJP during the movement.

Vishwas had said that Bedi and Singh, now a Union minister, wanted India Against Corruption to become 'India Against Congress' and prevented the activists from speaking on corruption in BJP-ruled states.

Maken also cited Bhushan's claim that Kejriwal had initially had a pro-BJP inclination. Maken said the 'anti-corruption' plank was a sham, and the only motivating factor for all these activists was 'anti-Congressism'.

While Bedi has become the BJP's face in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has begun its campaign touting the 'Modi PM, Kejriwal CM' line.

Kejriwal has largely avoided attacking Modi, focusing mostly on issues other than communalism.