"Even now he (Hazare) tells me, these allegations levelled against you, this has happened to me for the past 20 years. Let them say whatever they want to say. Don`t let these things hamper your work," the activist said in her speech after receiving Kriyasheel Award here. Her comments came against the backdrop of allegations that she overcharged hosts by inflating her travel bills and that she availed discounts on air tickets using her gallantry medal. She defended herself saying she did not personally benefit and that the money thus saved went to her NGO. As the issue snowballed into a controversy, Bedi offered to return the money to her hosts.
She said "Is these thorns (allegations) a result of their sacrifice? This was the same when Anna was fasting for 12 days and we were worried about his health. But allegations were raised that Team Anna is doing so with an agenda. "We asked Anna to tell people whether he was fasting because we asked him to do so or whether it was on his own volition. He said the allegations did not matter to him," he said.