FirstpostEbook_jsxjeq_20111021043431

8/3/2019 FirstpostEbook_jsxjeq_20111021043431

1/47


2/47

Contents

Is Team Anna on the road to self destruction?

Team Anna: From a grand cause to self-destruction 4

Jumping the shark: 3 signs that Anna movement is in trouble 6

Step 1: Hisar

Team Anna in Hisar: Wrong cause, wrong election, wrong rhetoric 9

Anna, dont diminish yourself, keep off politics please 12

Team Anna may have lost more than it gained in Hisar 14

Nobody wants to give Anna the credit in Hissar 16

Annas tryst with politics; two core committee members quit 18

We jumped the gun in Hisar: Hegde 20

Step 2: The people behind Team Anna

Will Arvind Kejriwal turn out to be his own enemy? 22

Kejriwal attacked with slipper, Team Anna undeterred 24

Kejriwal has political ambition in the shadow of Anna: Congress 25

Prashant Bhushan remains part of Team Anna, says Patkar 26

If auto drivers who over-charge are cheats, so is Kiran Bedi 27

Anna caught in the Prashant Bhushan pincer 29

Step 3: The RSS connection

Anna being misled: Digvijay 32

Digvijaya Singh furnishes letter to prove Hazare-RSS link 33

No offer to Hazare, Digvijay dreams up things: Munde 34

RSS says it is very much part of Annas movement 35

Step 4: Anna's reactions

Anna wants to be the face now, not the mask. Its a good move 38

Anna to team: Dont exceed brief and speak on every issue 40

Anna takes a dig at Bhushan; hardens Kashmir stand 41

Anna to take vow of silence for atmashanti 43

Illogical talks fail to break my spirit: Anna 44

No links to RSS, no desire to become Prez: Anna 45


3/47

Is Team Anna on the road toself destruction?


4/47

Team Anna: From a grand causeto self-destructionSanjeev Srivastava, Oct 20, 2011

Team Anna is under attack.

Attack from outside, by those wanting to discredit the anti graft crusaders.

Simultaneously, the team of disparate individuals who together constitute the core committee ofteam Anna each red by their own individual cause and ambitionis facing internal dissensionand division. Theres a real threat of implosion.

Body blows, kicks, slippers, PILs seeking investigations into the various trusts and NGOs associ-ated with members, internal dissensions and now nally even an expose by the Indian Express on

how the feisty ex cop Kiran Bedi over invoiced and inated her travel bills when claiming reim-bursements from organizations, charities and companies hosting her.

Kiran Bedi is yet to respond to a textmessage from Firstpost seeking herreply to the charges made by the In-dian Express. In a press conference totelevision, she denied nothing.

Team Anna should have been expect-

ing this no holds barred attack. Theyshould have even been prepared for it.

The kind of challenge it has posed tothe political class in general and thecongress party and the UPA govern-ment in particular, its no surprisethat quite a few very powerful peoplemust be rubbing their hands in glee

and enjoying the discomture of team Anna. Some may even be proactive in ensuring that teamAnna remains under pressure and more skeletons were unearthed at regular intervals from whatwere supposed to be corruption free, clean and glistening cupboards of the leading lights of teamAnna.

Team Anna and their supporters must be nave to expect anything else. And quite frankly theresprecious little they could have done to ward off these attacks if they wanted to sustain their JanLokpal bill agenda with the necessary vigour.

But its in their inability to manage affairs internally and evolve a consensus in the core committeeon key issues of strategy and decision making that team Anna has failed and let down their sup-porters.

Just look at the list of people who have either walked out on team Anna or have been sidelined.

Swami Agnivesh went ostensibly for conspiring and blaming his fellow team Anna members whileon the phone with one Kapilji. Maybe he was doing all that he has been blamed for being a


5/47

Vibhishan in the ranks of team Anna and, a government mole. But surely even that instance couldhave been handled with more sensitivity and maturity. Maybe, just maybe and for the sake of beingthe devils advocate, Swami Agnivesh did have some issues on which he differed with other mem-

bers of the team and was simply airing his frustration with the rival camp.

Whatever, the public perception is that Agniveshs case was not tenable and perhaps team Annawas not very much in the wrong in that case.

But again why and how somebody, like a Santosh Hegde started feeling sidelined by an all consum-ing, Arvind Kejriwal running the show during Annas hunger strike at the Ram Lila maidan and thesubsequent negotiations with the government should be worrying. The gentleman that he is, San-tosh Hegde did not go public with his opinion till recently when he opposed the rather whimsicaland unilateral (or was it a bilateral decision authored by Kejriwal and Bedi) decision to oppose thecongress party in Hisar.

The Congress may have been trounced in Hisar and the electoral verdict may well be a precursorto what lies ahead in Haryana politics but the call to oppose the congress party in the by electioncould well turn out to be a decision which team Anna may repent at leisure.

Speaking to Firstpost, the waterman from Rajasthanas he is popularly referred to for raising is-sues pertaining to conservation of waterand Magsaysay award winner, Rajendra Singh, said he

was increasingly feeling stied, sidelined and even manipulated by people like Arvind Kejriwal whowere hijacking the movement for their own agenda.

Why should we be opposing and supporting any political party. Our aim was to secure the JanLokpal bill and we should have just focused on that rather than play party politics.

Rajendra Singh and Gandhian activist P V Rajgopal have already quit the 25-member core com-

mittee earlier this week and now there are reports that some other members of the core committeelike the Archbishop of Delhi, Maulana Shamim Qasmi, Jamiat Ulema Hind leader and MP, Meh-mood Madani, and some other religious leaders may also either quit or distance themselves fromthe core committee of India Against Corruption (IAC).

All of these people have their political views and leanings and feel uncomfortable being tagged withwhatever Kejriwal & co thinks is right.

Theres a growing perception that Anna Hazare is a virtual captive of the Kejriwal-Bedi-Bhushantrio and even amongst these three it is the combination of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia

who have the nal say as far as Annas IPR (intellectual property rights) is concerned. Its widelybelieved that they are the real voice of Anna and make the veteran articulate whatever they wish.Since even Sisodia is a relative lightweight and seen as a Kejriwal follower by most, its ultimately

Arvind Kejriwal alone who is seen by observers as the one man who is now running team Anna in aarbitrary and authoritarian manner perhaps hurtling down the anti corruption movement on a selfdestructive course.

Its a pity that the movement nds itself on crossroads in this manner.

If only the team occasionally learns to appreciate the virtues of silence ( like Anna himself is at themoment!). Unrelenting aggression and attacking the congress may have helped team Anna become

popular amongst those who already are against the party and may even win them kudos from theBJP leaders. It also got them supporters for the common enemy against corruption. But if the team

was made legitimate by the congregation of reasonable voices, it is losing support from that samegroup who were for an apolitical national cause. A reasonable cause.


6/47

Jumping the shark: 3 signs thatAnna movement is in troubleLakshmi Chaudhry, Oct 18, 2011

The Congress should take a lesson and now pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, said Arvind Kejriwal,declaring victory in Hisar. But as most analyses show, the real message of the elections is that theCongress party is in trouble irrespective of outside intervention thanks to a series of corrup-tion scandals, runaway ination and inept handling of the Hazare protests. There has been nogood news for the ruling party over the past year, and the bye-election results show it.

For the anti-corruption movement, however, this is an empty win of dubious value which willrequire some serious soul-searching on their part. Whether in politics or in life, it is always good to

remember who you are and whence you came from.

The rst protests in Jantar Mantar were unique for a number of reasons. One, it had no politicalbacking from any party and relied entirely on its ability to inspire ordinary Indians with its moraldemand for integrity. Two, while Anna was its most recognizable face, it was a movement led bycommittee. Most news reports referred to it at the time as the anti-corruption campaign. Andthree, it offered no broader ideological goals or agenda other than the creation of a Lokpal. There

was no talk about the ills of development or importance of traditional values.

In August, the movements unique character mobilised tens of lakhs of citizens from farmers to

middle class housewives across the nation to bring the UPA-ruled government to its knees. Butthe disarray in the leadership over the past week signals serious underlying problems that threatenthe very strengths that fueled their success, and may doom the movement in the long run.


7/47

Whos the boss?

The rst sign of trouble reared its head in Ram Lila, emblazoned across banners, t-shirts and topis,all bearing the same message: I am Anna. Over the course of less than a week, the anti-corruptionmovement became a one-man crusade. The rest of the leadership now relegated to a catch-callmoniker, Team Anna. In a rush of popular fervour and media attention, Hazare was elevated toGandhian heights, an overpowering symbol that soon began to dwarf the cause.

Over the past month, Anna shows every sign of having bought the hype. Like a lead singer whothinks he is bigger than the band, hes decided to declare himself boss. I will convey what hasto be done henceforth the steps that we need to take and the direction this revolution will headtowards, he said in the rst entry of the blog created to speak freely and without reference toother members of his team.

In an interview to the New York Times, he compared Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan toChidambaram and Kapil Sibal, implying they were being obstructive and unhelpful. I need tochange them. I will change them, he said. More recently, he promised to tell his colleagues not toexceed their brief and speak on each and every issue.

But herein lies the problem. This is a movement-by-committee: they meet, vote, and decide on acommon plan of action. And this group identity is a vital ingredient of its success. Each memberis a seasoned veteran in his or her eld, who brings specic strengths to the table, and offsets theothers weaknesses. These are not Hazare acolytes, handpicked by the great man himself to executehis vision.

Anna is not India. He is not even the anti-corruption movement, but its most popular face. Forget-ting that little fact will be disastrous for the movements future. Personal popularity is necessary

but in no way sufcient. Not when it requires single-handedly directing a diverse, loosely aligned

movement through a political mineeld and intense media scrutiny in order to push through acomplex piece of legislation.

No one, however, seems inclined to remind Anna of this inconvenient fact.

Shrinking the big tent

The great allure of the anti-corruptionprotests is that it symbolizes the promise ofunity in a nation polarized by caste, com-munity, party loyalties, and ideology. The

promise is built into the very DNA of itsleadership which united a Medha Patkar

with an Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi with aPrashant Bhushan. And it translated intothat moment in the Ram Lila grounds

when, on both the dais and in the crowds,people set aside their differences to cometogether for a singular cause.

Yet for the past week, Anna has been busy shoving people out of the movement. First he threw

Prashant Bhushan under the wheels for his views on Kashmir views that were well-known whenHazare joined the India Against Corruption team. Then he shrilly distanced himself from the RSS,accusing them of smearing his movement by claiming a close association. In both cases, Hazarecould have politely stated his disagreement with their ideology, while underlining the diversity ofthose who support the cause.


8/47

Step 1

Hisar


9/47

Team Anna in Hisar: Wrong cause,wrong election, wrong rhetoricLakshmi Chaudhry, Oct 13, 2011

Team Annas decision to jump into the fray in the Hisar by-election is a mistake, period. And notfor the usual reasons. It matters less if their stance strengthens the BJP, or if they are perceived asits allies. Nor is there anything wrong with a civil society group getting involved in electoral poli-tics. The problem is that the leaders of the movement seem to have lost sight of their cause, whichis ghting corruption not the Congress party. And in doing so, they have chosen the wrong battleat the wrong place at the wrong time.

And here are three reasons why:

One, wrong cause. Anna Hazare went on a fast in August for an excellent reason. The proposedUPA Lokpal bill was a mockery of the very intent of the legislation, and the government clearly hadno intention of meeting Annas demand that the bill be proposed and passed in the monsoon ses-sion. The deadline ran out and he headed to Ram Lila.

But the reasoning for this confrontationin Hisar is murky, to say the least. Anna

wants the government to pass the Lokpalbill during the winter Parliamentary ses-sion, which will begin in November. Thegovernment can hardly be in violation

of a deadline that has not yet arrived. Sowhy punish the Congress for breaches offaith yet to be committed? Demands not

yet rejected?

Do not vote for Congress during theHisar by-poll as we are yet to receive aletter of support from the party support-ing the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in

Parliament, says Hazare. Kejriwal even species that nothing less than a letter from Sonia Gandhi

will do. So the recent letter from the Prime Minister of India clearly wont do because he doesntcount for Team Anna.

Now Arvind Kejriwal is saying, If the Congress passes the Jan Lokpal Bill tomorrow, we will im-mediately withdraw our campaign. Down we go the slippery slope of unreasonable demands

Theres been much talk about sending a message but the only message here is that Team Anna isitching for any excuse for a ght with the ruling party. Perhaps because it keeps them in the spot-light and maintains the momentum gathered from the August fast. This is more a PR battle ormore likely vendetta than a just war.

Two, wrong election. Hisar may seem like an obvious choice given Kejriwals local roots. But it waslikely also chosen for another more dubious reason: Hisar also promises an easy win. The Congressparty candidate is an underdog in the ght, and is unlikely to win with or without Annas inter-

vention. But by expediently relabeling the election as a referendum on the Lokpal bill and


10/47

rallying voters against a man already slated to lose Team Anna is well-positioned to take creditfor his defeat, and make it a symbol of popular will.

Nice idea except Raj Prakash is the cleanest and the least wealthy of the three candidates in thefray. To offer aid and comfort even by default to the likes of Ajay Singh Chautala and KuldeepBishnoi is hardly the way to promote the anti-corruption cause. Chautala has two pending cases ofcorruption, cheating and criminal conspiracy against him. And Bishnoi faces a case for attemptedmurder. Both are fabulously rich heirs of political dynasties with no apparent source of income.

After all, these elected Congress candidates with a clean image will follow only the party highcommands whip and not listen to their conscience, rebuts Anna when presented with such incon-

venient facts. Kejriwals comeback is equally unconvincing: We never said that Chautala or Bish-noi is better than anyone else. If Chautala is facing charges, there is all the more reason for us toght for the Jan Lokpal Bill so that anyone who indulges in corruption, irrespective of whosoeverhe may be, is punished promptly for his misdeeds. Yes, lets aid and abet the election of criminalsso we can punish them later.

Besides, criminal-politicians are hardly more likely to support the Lokpal bill, party whip or not.

(Not that there is any guarantee the BJP or other opposition parties will issue any such whip) Andit certainly seems odd to remain silent about Bishnoi and Chautala, while Kejriwal and Sisodiacampaign against Prakash with misleading slogans like Congress ke haath, Bhrashtachaar kesaath (Congress palm its election symbol with corruption), Ab toh spasht hain, Congressparty bhrasht hain (Its clear now, Congress is corrupt). Not quite, at least not in this case.

Besides, they could have chosen one of the other bye-elections that offer choice targets like the onein Khadakwasala in Annas home state, Maharashtra. Congress-supported Harshada, the wife ofdeceased Ramesh Wanjale, is the ultimate political fat cat with a notorious affection for gold. Even

without Annas benediction, BJP leader Gopinath Munde has been eagerly invoking his name:

Anna has asked people not to vote for the Congress as it is corrupt. His men are whole-heatedlycampaigning against the party in Hisar (Haryana). So you as voters have to listen to Anna and voteagainst the corrupt Congress-NCP alliance in this by-poll.

But Khadakwasala does pose one tiny little problem: Harshada is expected to win. And that cer-tainly wont send the right message.

Three, wrong rhetoric. During the long summer of protest, Team Anna displayed its most im-pressive and lethal asset: message discipline. The tone was measured as was the language. Andthey were blessed with opponents suffering from an acute case of verbal diarrhoea. But this time

around, they seem determined to match the likes of Digvijay Singh, word for ill-advised word.

For starters, Team Anna is no longer railing against the system but against one single political par-ty. Deny it as they may, the proof is in the pudding, as in quotes from Arvind Kejriwal like these:We do not have ill will against the Congress. But if you Congresswallas do not pass the Jan LokpalBill, we will destroy the very foundation of the Congress in the country.

Then there is the alarming shift to emotional blackmail in their speeches. The appeal is not topeoples outrage against corruption this time around, but their personal loyalty to Anna. You willhave to inict a historic defeat on the Congress. If you defeat the party, this will be Annas victory,Kejriwal told the gathering. At the end of another meeting, he upped the ante further: Each one

of your votes will act as a life breath for Anna. This government wants Anna to die. You can savehis life with every vote of yours.

But the worst of the lot is this:


11/47

He (Anna) has told me that if the Congress doesnt pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session,he will go on another hunger strike. Annas life is in your hands. Each vote you cast against theCongress is like a breath for Anna-ji. I am not saying vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party either.There are 40 candidates, vote for any of them except the Congress. If you vote for the Congress, it

will be desh-droh.

Elections are the life blood of a democracy. To use them as a tool of political opportunism is un-wise and unseemly. But to label the free exercise of a citizens vote for the party of his/her choice asan act of treachery is unforgivable. And it is a clear sign of a movement that is losing its directionand its head.


12/47

Anna, dont diminish yourself,keep o politics please

Akshaya Mishra, Oct 7, 2011

Anna Hazare is not playing politics; hes being what he is. That has been the public perceptionsince the Gandhian took centre-stage in the anti-corruption crusade initiated by lesser mortalsin civil society. It still holds strong. Thats perhaps why his movement and adulation for the manhimself have not petered out so far. We live in ckle times where attention spans change with thenews cycle and its no small feat to remain fresh in public memory for this long.

The biggest reason could be that Anna has managed to stay apolitical. Attempts to paint him inpolitical colours have not succeeded so far. But as he engages more with political parties by way ofeither confrontation or cooperation, would it be possible for him to stay the way he is? The success

and longevity of the movement and the aura of Anna himself would depend a lot on how the an-swer plays out.

Mohan Bhagwat, chief of RSS, has claimed that the organisation actively backed Anna Hazaresanti-corruption crusade. The CPIs national secretary, D Raja, is clear that the Gandhian, by designor default, is secretly helping the BJP. Hazare himself has announced that he would actively cam-paign against the Congress unless he was given a written assurance that it would support the JanLokpal Bill. He has been uncritical of the BJP, barring a stray statement here and there against theparty. The Congress feels aggrieved, understandably so.

It does not matter. Annas intention doesnot appear suspect. Moreover, he cannot beexpected to be counting the number of verbalpunches he delivers at parties and share itequally among all. But his statements aimedat political parties could be awed from thepoint of view of strategy and damaging to themovement.

What, for instance, if people voted for andelected the same candidates Anna had ad-

vised people not to vote? In Hissar, which isgoing for a bypoll on 13 October, Anna hasalready announced that he wont support the

Congress. This is because the party does not support the Jan Lokpal Bill of Team Anna. If the vot-ers still prefer to vote for the Congress candidate, it could be a loss of face for Anna.

If the trend continues in the assembly polls in states, it could be a blow to the credibility of Annaand to his universal acceptability. He wont be taken seriously by politicians and parties after that.The anti-corruption movement would lose much of its power to drive a hard bargain. The exercise

would end up, without intending to be so, a test of Annas clout. Perhaps, this was avoidable.

Another aspect of Team Annas exercise is equally beguiling. The inherent assumption in it, or themessage the team wants to send across, is whoever supports the Jan Lokpal Bill is not corrupt.That could be dangerous. First, it makes Team Anna the judge and jury in deciding whos corrupt;second, it loads a few contestants with unfair advantage; and third, it lets some corrupt candidates


13/47

slip through and obtain the halo of the honest.

Team Anna could be mixing up things here. It is aiming at political reforms to weed out corruptcandidates, but in effect it is backing some people with poor credentials. That it might end up get-ting targeted by some parties is a minor issue, but the bigger one is it might be forced to defend itschoice now.

I do not think he has any clarity. I do not know who are the people advising him, D Raja saidabout Anna. It appears to an be apt assessment. Team Anna is still in the our Lokpal or no Lokpalframe of mind and it refuses to accept that Parliament could still produce a solution acceptable toall. It could be inviting a backlash by taking street politics too far.

Should Anna and his team be embroiled in politics so much? The answer is a clear no. It would becounterproductive in the end and diminish the strength of the movement. Anna should not be apolitical entity. He is okay the way he is.


14/47

Team Anna may have lost morethan it gained in HisarVenky Vembu, Oct 18, 2011

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.

Nothing illustrates this better than the reactions of the political parties and a new and emergingpolitical force in the form of TeamAnna after the Hisar byelection result came out yesterday,

The Congress and the BJP have dismissed the notion that Team Annas campaign against the Con-gress as part of its demand for a strong Lokpal Bill proved decisive in determining the Hisaroutcome.

Even Team Anna members arent claiming credit for the Congress defeat in Hisar, although ArvindKejriwal framed the verdict as the result of a referendum on the Jan Lokpal Bill. The Congressshould take a lesson and now pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, Kejriwal told PTI.

Kiran Bedi, another core member,denied that Team Anna was claimingcredit for the outcome.

This was a voters verdict, and TeamAnnas contribution was limited tomaking the voters aware of the partiesposition on the Lokpal Bill.

Since all the other parties in the frayin Orissa had committed themselvesto supporting the Jan Lokpal Bill inParliament, and the Congress alonehadnt, Team Annas attention wasfocussed on working for the Congressdefeat, she explained.

Reading electoral verdicts is always a tricky business, particularly in India where everything fromcandidates caste afliations to sundry local issues count for as much as platform promises on is-sues of national importance.

And although Team Anna was making its pitch on just one issue the Jan Lokpal Bill there is nomeaningful way of knowing precisely how much traction the issue gained among the voters.

Like blind men feeling different parts of the elephant and walking away with vastly different im-ages of the beast, the electoral verdict in Hisar lends itself for every single party to interpret the

verdict to their own advantage.

Even the Congress, which lost not just in Hisar but in the three Assembly byelections elsewhere,claims that none of this really counts as a loss because, in fact, the Congress wasnt defending itsown seats in the rst place. That is, of course, little consolation for the party, which has much tomull over from yesterdays results.


15/47

Yet, while the BJP may have reasons to feel justiably pleased with yesterdays results, Team Annamay have in the end lost more than it gained from the Hisar verdict.

Thats because the decision to campaign openly against the Congress has exposed some latent fric-tions within the core members.

Justice Santosh Hegde, for instance, is of the opinion that the anti-Congress campaign, spearhead-ed by Kejriwal in Hisar, was a tactical mistake, since it leaves Team Anna open to the criticism thatits claims to leading a non-partisan anti-corruption movement stand compromised.

Where once it earned enormous goodwill with its demands for a systemic change to battle cor-ruption (independent of who was in power), its strategy in Hisar opens it up to the criticism that it

was settling for regime change without any meaningful progress towards systemic change.

In other words, Team Anna is stuck in a Trishanku-land in Hisar: it cannot claim much credit forthe Congress defeat in Hisar (although that was its tactical objective), but it nevertheless nursesthe scars that the decision to campaign against the Congress has inicted on its core team.

It is left with war wounds, even though it ended up on the winning side. Not a happy place to be.


16/47

Nobody wants to give Anna thecredit in HissarPTI, Oct 17, 2011

New Delhi: The jury is still out on whether Anna Hazare tilted the scales in the Hisar by-electioncontest but neither the winner Kuldeep Bishnoi and its alliance partner BJP nor the loser Congressare willing to give him credit.

Hazare himself, however, warned the Congress to take cue from the rout and pass the Jan LokpalBill in the Winter Session of Parliament.

74-year-old Hazare, campaignging vigorously for passage of the Jan Lokpal bill wrote in his blogthat he will personally campaign against Congress in the next Assembly polls if it does not pass the

Bill in the winter session of Parliament.

A number of Assembly polls are scheduled next year including that of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Ut-tarkhand andGujarat.

Cong should take cue after its defeat in Hisar bypoll and pass Jan Lokpal Bill in Winter Sessionsaid Hazare seeking to take credit over the verdict in Hisar where Team Anna campaigned vigor-ously against the ruling party. Hazare is on a vow of silence now.

Despite facing the ignominy of losing its deposit, Congress put up a brave face dismissing sugges-

tions that Team Anna played any role in the defeat and the rout was end of the road for HaryanaChief Minister B S Hooda.

Party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury alsobrushed aside claims that the defeat in Hisaras also in two Assembly bypolls Khadakvasa-la in Maharashtra and Banswada in AndhraPradesh would affect the coming Assemblypolls in ve states including Uttar Pradesh.Now Team Anna should issue a certicate of

no corruption to Kuldeep Bishnoi, she said.

Bishnoi, a candidate of the HVC-BJP, andson of late Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, alsorst claimed that Hazare campaign had noimpact on his victory but later conceded it

beneted him a little.

BJP too was loathe to give credit to Hazare. When asked if some of the credit for Bishnoisvictorygoes to Team Anna as well, party spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain replied in the negative.

I have read Annas statements. He has appealed not for victory of any candidate but for the defeatof a party, he said.

Hussain hailed the victory of its candidates in various by-polls as peoples verdict against a corrupt


17/47

Congress government at the Centre.

This is an auspicious day for democracy. Congress, which is neck-deep in corruption, has lost theHisar seat. Our candidates have won in Daraunda and Kadakvasla. This is a victory of the peopleand of those who are raising their voice against corruption, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hus-sain said.

Team Anna said the ruling party should take a lesson from the defeat and ensure passage of theJan Lokpal Bill as the election was a referendum on it.

It is a referendum on Jan Lokpal Bill. Congress should take a lesson and now pass Jan LokpalBill, Anna Team member Arvind Kejriwal told PTI.

Haryana Janhit Congress chief Bishnoi, who was supported by BJP, won the Hisar bypolls defeat-ing INLDs Ajay Chautala. Congress Jai Prakash was in the third position.


18/47

Annas tryst with politics; two corecommittee members quitPTI, Oct 18, 2011

In fresh turmoil in Team Anna, two prominent activists PV Rajagopal and Waterman RajinderSingh today quit its Core Committee objecting to the movement taking a political turn.

The decision to launch anti-Congress campaign in Hisar, which both claimed was not taken by theCore Committee, appeared to be one of the reasons for these activists to quit the panel, thoughRajagopal says that the Team was putting pressure on him not to do so.

I dissociate with the Team. The Team is turning political. There were statements indicating thatincluding that on Hisar, Singh said.

Rajagopal, who is in Keralas Attappadi as part of an all-India yatra for land rights, wrote to CoreCommittee Convenor Arvind Kejriwal about his decision, while Singh said he did not feel the needto write any such letter as he had not sought any membership in the rst place.

The fresh trouble came amid Hazares ip-op on Prashant Bhushan that the Core Com-mittee will decide on the continuance of thelawyer, who had created a controversy byadvocating plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir,in the team.

I have sent in the letter expressing my dif-culty in continuing in the team. They (theTeam) have told me not to take any decisionlike this. I am in the midst of an all-India

yatra, Rajagopal said.

Asked whether all the decisions by Team Annawere taken after due consultations, he said there was a problem in coordination. Every individual

was speaking and it was Teams decision. There was no Core Group decision on Hisar. I will havedifculty in owning up decisions of individuals.

Singh, a Magsasay award winner known for his activities in water conservation, said he was neverthat active in the Team. When I felt that the Team is taking a political turn, I decided it is the dayto quit, he said.

Serious differences appeared to have cropped up in Team Anna on some important issues facinghis campaign in the past one week after Hazares latest position that the Core Committee of hiscampaign will meet and decide whether Prahsant Bhushan will continue in his team or not.

In two days, Hazare has changed his stand on Bhushan, who is in the eye of the storm for his ad-

vocacy of plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, thrice, much to the dismay of some of his team mem-bers.

Hazare has also tweaked his campaign against Congress, saying he will work with Congress acrossthe country if the UPA government brings a strong Lokpal Bill in the Winter session of Parliament


19/47

and keeps its words on other reforms.

Hazare also decided to wait till the end of Winter Session to embark on a yatra in Uttar Pradesh,contrary to the earlier decision of hitting the streets against Congress in the state soon afterDusshera.

The sources said his close aides in Ralegan Siddhi have managed to convince him to tone down hisanti-Congress rhetoric.


20/47

We jumped the gun in Hisar:HegdePTI, Oct 14, 2011

Reecting a rift within Team Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde has disapproved of the anti-Congress campaign by fellow Arvind Kejriwal during Hisar bypolls, saying it was not the rightthing to do and we jumped the gun.

Hegde, who was a representative of TeamAnna in the Joint Drafting Committee onLokpal Bill, also took a dig at Kejriwal for hisremarks that Hazare was above Parliament,observing that such things happen when

somebody talks too much.

Describing himself as an apolitical person,the former Karnataka Lokayukta said, I

believe the (Hazare) movement is and shouldbe apolitical. Even before Parliament coulddebate the Lokpal Bill, they went to Hisarand campaigned against the Congress. I dontthink it was the right thing to do.

He noted that corrupt people are not just in the Congress but in other parties as well.

If Anna and the other team members felt compelled to intervene in the electoral process, theyshould have only asked the people to choose the best candidate. That would have been the idealthing to do, Hegde told Outlook when asked whether he was uncomfortable with the Hisar epi-sode.

Emphasising that he was not pro-Congress, he said he did not know much about the Congress can-didate in Hisar but claimed that Kuldeep Bishnoi (of Haryana Janhit Congress) and Ajay Chautala(INLD) were not above board. How then we ask people to vote against the Congress?


21/47

Step 2

The people behind TeamAnna


22/47

Will Arvind Kejriwal turn out tobe his own enemy?


Arvind Kejriwal could well be the civil societys version of Narendra Modi. He evokes extreme re-actions, both negative and positive. You either like him or dont; there cannot be halfway positions.He is also a go-getter abrasive, at points seriously annoying, but still a go-getter. That the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare has stirred and shaken the establishment and stayed strongso far is a tribute to the man.

Combative, in your face, articulate, determined and good at rabble-rousing, he has been the brain

and muscle behind the movement, while Anna has been its face. But that precisely are the qualitiesthat could prove to be his undoing and take the movement down.

Its my movement, I will take it the way I want, he has been asserting this, rather brazenly andwithout spelling that out in words, through his actions all through. That it is causing discomtureamong other civil society members is evident. He has manged to alienate mentors like Aruna Royand Harsh Mandar through his aggressive positioning on the Lokpal issue already; now the coremembers of Team Anna are getting upset.

His decision to use the momentum in favour of the anti-corruption movement against the Con-gress in Hisar was more impulsive than rational. It has not gone down well among some members

of Team Anna, though only Santosh Hegde has been vocal about it.

We jumped the gun in Hisar, said Hegde in an interview to the Outlookmagazine. I believe the(anti-corruption) movement is and should be apolitical. Even before Parliament could debate the


23/47

Lokpal Bill, they went to Hisar and campaigned against the Congress. I dont think it was the rightthing to do, he added.

in the election was so compelling then members of Team Anna should have asked the people tochoose the best candidate since corrupt people are not just in the Congress but in other parties as

well. Hisar is the native place of Kejriwal.

In a hint that his disapproval was at a level deeper than that, Hegde, commenting on Kejriwalscomment that Anna was above Parliament, told Outlook that such things happen when somebodytalks too much. Clearly, things are deteriorating on the personal front. Signs of stress in the teamdoes not augur well for the movement.

But Kejriwal, moving with the wave now, is not likely to stop. He has become bigger than themovement in some ways and the nal arbiter of what direction it takes. The only force that can putthe brakes is Anna himself. He is not inclined to do that at this stage.

His moves and rapid rise to this stature

has surprised many of his comrades inthe civil society and mentors. Under theshadow of Aruna Roy, Mazdoor KisanShakti Sangathan (MKSS) leader, formercivil servant and activist Harsh Mandar,his associate Shekhar Singh and Mag-saysay winner Sandip Pandey for long,Kejriwal broke ranks with them over theLokpal Bill. It was the former who hadinitiated the idea of the Lokpal Bill andmade some progress till Kejriwal cameup with a much more radical version ofit.

He formed his own core team including Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi andSantosh Hegde and moved on to enlist the support of Gandhian Anna Hazare for his cause afterformer president Abdul Kalam declined to take the lead role. The movement just got bigger and

bigger with the media coming into the picture and the rest, as they say, is history.

His mentors, of course, were not pleased to see the way their initiative was hijacked and the waythings shaped up to be a mass movement. Mandar criticised the developments unfolding over the

Jan Lokpal Bill severely. This is a right-leaning, fascist campaign to push for an extremely regres-sive legislation. It is painful to watch colleagues and friends take such unreasonable positions. TheLokpal Bill needs wider debate, consultations and reasonable debate, he said in an interview withIndia Today.

But by then Kejriwal was unstoppable. The anti-corruption crusade had moved far beyond any civilsociety movement earlier. Anna was the symbol of the movement but he was the real driving force

behind it. His personality traits, his combativeness, his understanding of the mass mood and hisability to use the media were working to making him larger-than-life.

However, indications now are that he is moving too fast and without a clear direction. There ahint of recklessness too.

Will Kejriwal turn out to be his own enemy? Lets wait and watch.


24/47

Kejriwal attacked with slipper,Team Anna undeterredPTI, Oct 18, 2011

Lucknow: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was today attacked by a youth with a slipper whilehe was going to attend a programme here as part of their anti-graft campaign, nearly a week afterthe assault on another colleague

Prashant Bhushan.

The youth identied as Jitendra Pathak of Jalaun district hurled the chappal at Kejriwal when hewas about to reach the dais at Jhulelal park. He was later caught by volunteers and detained by thepolice.

Team Anna core committee member Sanjay Singh told reporters that the youth threw a chappal onKejriwal who had pardoned the attacker. The youth accused Kejriwal of misleading people on theissue of corruption. He claimed that he was not associated with any party.

On October 12, Bhushan was attacked by members of a right-wing group in his Supreme Courtchambers allegedly over his remarks advocating plebiscite in Kashmir. Condemning the attack onKejriwal, Team Anna member Kiran

Bedi said vested interests against their anti-graft campaign were behind the incident.

Team Anna condemned the attack on activist Arvind Kejriwal in Lucknow saying such incidentswill not deter them from ghting corruption.

Attacks against Team Anna will not deter us from keeping up the crusade of voter awareness. Weare on mission mode for Jan Lokpal Bill, prominent Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said.

She said the incident exposed that there can be a connection between the attack on PrashantBhushan and that on Kejriwal. Bedi demanded an independent probe into the incident. Anotherkey Team Anna member Medha Patkar said she was shocked because this cannot happen to aperson who has really worked to wipe out corruption. I really demand security, if Kejriwal agrees

to do that. I demand immediate action by local police, she said.

Watchvideo
http://av.firstpost.com/2011/10/211829_kejriwal_attacked-1.mp4


25/47

Kejriwal has political ambition inthe shadow of Anna: CongressPTI, Oct 11, 2011

Ranchi: Congress today claimed that Arvind Kejriwal, one of the key aides of Anna Hazares cam-paign against corruption, has been nursing political ambition in the shadow of Anna Hazare.

Kejriwal hails from Hisar and is using Anna Hazare to launch his political platform. Cant hesee corruption of charge-sheeted Ajay Singh Chautala of Indian National Lok Dal candidate fromHisar while Congress candidate Jai Prakash is clean, AICC spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said.

Kejriwals aim is to start his political career, using Anna Hazares shoulders. And I dont knowwhether Anna Hazare can see it, he said.

Ahmed said RSS and VHP publicly claiming that Anna Hazares agitation at Ramlila ground inNew Delhi was backed by thousands of activists from their outts.

They said about 20,000 people hadbeen fed free during Anna Hazaresfast. And now it is up to Anna Hazare to

judge whether his Gandhian ideals areserving right in the background of their(RSS/VHP) declarations, he said here.

Earlier during the day, Kejriwal main-tained that Team Anna was not cam-paigning for any party in Hisar bye-elec-tion and that it was not responsible ifopposition beneted from Team Annasappeal to the voters to refrain from vot-ing for Congress for its failure to bringthe Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

Ahmed was in Ranchi in connection with shardh ceremony of Rajya Sabha member Ramdayal

Munda, who passed away on September 30.


26/47

Prashant Bhushan remains partof Team Anna, says PatkarPTI, Oct 17, 2011

Srinagar: Amid growing speculations of differences cropping up in Team Anna, social activistMedha Patkar today said lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan continues to be a part of the anti-graftmovement.

Anna Hazare has never said that Prashant Bhushan will not be a part of the team. Media hasdistorted his statementPrashant Bhushan is very much part of the Team. He is at the forefrontof the struggle, Patkar said while addressing a group of activists before leaving for Imphal on asolidarity march for anti-AFSPA campaigner Irom Sharmila.

She described Bhushans statement on

Kashmir as his individual views. Bhush-ans comments on Jammu and Kashmirissue, in which he had advocated plebi-scite in the state, have created a storm

with some calling for his removal fromTeam Anna.

In reply to a question on her stand onplebiscite for Kashmir, Patkar saiddialogue was needed in this changed

situation.

She said the core group around Hazarebelieved violence cannot bring a politicalsolution to Kashmir issue.

Core team believes that violence cannot bring a solution to the political problem of Kashmir. Itwill come only through peace. Different countries have different constitutions in which we live, butKashmir is a complex issue, Patkar said.

Patkar said the solution to Kashmir issue can only be achieved through political dialogue.

Meanwhile, Magsaysay Award winner and human rights activist Sandeep Pandey backed Bhushanfor his comments on Jammu and Kashmir.

Hazare has been in the military and if you have served in the government, and especially in thearmed forces, obviously it will be difcult to overcome the feeling of nationalism, Pandey said.


27/47

If auto drivers who over-chargeare cheats, so is Kiran Bedi


At the peak of the anti-corruption campaign of Anna Hazare, the support came from unusualquarters. The more interesting among the groups supporting the movement were a section of the

builders in Mumbai, who even justied taking black money from home buyers, and Surat diamondmerchants, many of whom, the Income Tax department believes, fudge their books routinely toavoid taxes. Also, there were CEOs of companies with dubious records taking part in candle-lightmarches against graft.

Obviously, none of such participants seriously believed they were corrupt; corruption is somethingothers indulged in.

Now, theres the curious case of Kiran Bedi. Bedi, one of the most aggressive members of TeamAnna, is believed to have inated her travel expenses while charging the institutions and NGOs in-viting her for seminars. As a gallantry award winner, she is entitled to a 75 percent discount on hertickets. She availed the rebate but charged her hosts the full ticket price on at least 12 occasions,according to a report in The Indian Express.

The newspaper, which claims to have therecords of bills, invoices and copies of thecheques, reports that she at times chargedher hosts business class fare while actu-

ally traveling economy class. The amountcharged by Bedi was in some cases threetimes the actual expenditure made by her.

The chartered accountant for India VisionFoundation, Bedis organisation, Suresh

Vyas, justied the mismatch saying it wasactually a saving done by them. The extramoney came in handy for travels for causesfor which Bedi got no remuneration, accord-

ing the Express report.

Of course, Bedi wont accept it to be a case of cheating and from a wider angle, of corruption. Theautorickshaw drivers in Mumbai tinker with the meters to overcharge customers but never con-cede that it is a dishonest act. The builders will never accept that taking money in black fromhouse buyers is corruption, neither will businessmen cooking the books to dodge taxes.

So, what constitutes corruption? If we go by the cases of Bedi and others, no act of dishonestyamounts to corruption if theres a justication tagged along. By that standard every politician andevery bureaucrat presumed to be corrupt is actually not so. A Raja, the alleged kingpin of the 2Gspectrum scandal, could defend himself by saying he was generating nances for his party since

elections are an expensive affair and the country does not have a system to fund elections. A clerkat the lower level could claim he charges money from people to move les because he is so ill-paid.

None of it makes sense. We cannot afford to be so elastic in our denition of corruption. The whole


28/47

ght against graft cannot be reduced to a `your corruption is bigger than my corruption issue. Itsnot clear yet what defence Bedi would put up in her case, but the documents nail her fairly well. Itis likely to put question marks on her moral grandstanding on the issue of corruption.

Team Anna is out all guns blazing against the Congress at the moment. The pre-condition in anysuch move is that it should be absolutely clean on all fronts. After the embarrassing disclosure onBedi, it would nd itself open to uncomfortable questions.

Caesars wife, as they say, should be above suspicion.


29/47

Anna caught in the PrashantBhushan pincerSanjeev Srivastava, Oct 14, 2011

Prashant Bhushans remark advocating referendum on Kashmir and the subsequent attack onhim and his supporters has sparked a nationwide outrage amongst those who believe in freedom ofexpression and are concerned about the rising tide of intolerance in our social and political fabric.

But the episode has also brought with it a plethora of problems which now threaten to expose theinternal contradictions within Team Anna.

Considering that so much has been said and written and rightly so defending Prashant Bhush-ans right to free speech and condemning the dastardly attack on him and his supporters, that for

the purpose of this article I will conne myself to discussing the problems this entire issue has cre-ated for Team Anna.

For a large majority of Indians Kashmir is a non-negotiable subject. It is identied with emotiveissues like sovereignty and nationalism and for the masses the status of Jammu & Kashmir as anintegral part of India is sacrosanct. The nuances of the problem, including the need to engage indialogue with Pakistan, political and economic initiatives in the valley, the need to address inter-national opinion and the democratic aspirations of Kashmiri people are issues which concern morepolicy & decision makers and intellectuals.

One has to remember Annas core support is drawn from the masses. Most of them are lower mid-

dle class and middle class. Simple people not bothered much either with the complexities ofweighty national issues or with the subtleties of international diplomacywho are nationalist anddesire a corruption-free country where their future is secure and they can live within their means.Put simply they desire an equal opportunity, law abiding country where prices and corruption iskept under check.

This is a class which has its own approachtowards democracy and in their opinion theseparatist forces in Kashmir, insurgency inNorth East and Naxalism , all represent the

same side of the coin which is anti-national.For many in this constituency not in-clined to be burdened by subtlety and pre-ferring to view things in black and whiteany support and advocacy for such groups isplaying into the hands of forces inimical tothe interests of a strong and united India.

To be fair Anna also represents the sameclass.

For an ex-soldier who saw his colleagues being killed in a war defending the nation, its quite natu-ral to feel completely out of place on a platform where ideas like independence for Kashmir can besupported.


30/47

Prashant Bhushans remarks have also given an opportunity to his adversaries wanting to get evenwith him, weaken his movement and embarrass him. So organisations like the Shiv Sena have nowdared him to expel Prashant Bhushan from Team Anna and given him a 24-hour ultimatum on thespacious pleas that if Team Anna can brook no delay in the sacking of a corrupt minister how comethey are tolerating a traitor amongst their ranks.

These are just the kind of remarks which will make immediate, commonsensical appeal in Annasconstituency. In Baba Ramdevs constituency more rustic, more rural and even more simpleminded to a degree-there will be even more takers for such a thought. And to be fair both AnnaHazare and Baba Ramdev may actually be on the same page on this issue as many of their support-ers in disapproving and disagreeing with Prashant Bhushan.

So what are the options before Team Anna really?

Kiran Bedi , who is travelling and is out of the country, sent me a message saying that Team Annascommon cause was to get the Jan Lokpal bill passed in the winter session of the Parliament. Everymember of the team can raise any other issue in their individual capacity but that cannot be Team

Annas view. That will be the personal view of the member and Team Anna would have nothing to

do with it.

The same applies with Prashant Bhushans line on Kashmir, she said. Prashant Bhushan may havea view on Kashmir but it has nothing to do with Team Anna.

Quite right, correct and simple!

But is it so really?

In the eyes of the aam aadmi Team Anna is one. The distinction Kiran Bedi is trying to make is

logical and correct but will be bought only by those who have a certain degree of maturity in theirpolitical thought. Matters become even more difcult when vested interest parties like the ShivSena try and iname passions on the issue. An emotive, nationalist issue is the last thing that lendsitself to a reasoned choice when it comes to the masses.

Its a difcult one for Team Anna.

They have to somehow clear this unexpected hurdle if they need to remain relevant.

One way out of course is to create awareness and educate their supporters about the ner points

of such debates, and divergent opinions which form the essence of a thriving democracy. That maynot happen overnight.

Till then maybe for the sake of a bigger cause and larger good at least the key members ofTeam Anna agree to subsume their other interests and opinions on the altar of the anti-corruptioncrusade.


31/47

Step 3

The RSS connection


32/47

Anna being misled: DigvijayPTI, Oct 10, 2011

New Delhi: Firing yet another salvo at Team Anna for campaigning against Congress in Hisarbypoll, Digvijay Singh today claimed that Anna Hazare is being led up the garden path by peoplewho were against weaker section and reservation.

I am extremely sorry, Anna is being led up the garden path by all those people who are basicallyopposed to the idea of Congress, weaker section and reservation, the Congress general secretary,

who has been locked in a war of words with Team Anna, told reporters.

He claimed that Hazare aide Arvind Kejriwal has been known for his anti-reservation policy.

When asked about Justice Santosh Hegdedisapproving of Hazares anti-Congress

stance in the Hisar bypolls, he said, I amthankful to him. He should immediatelydistance himself from Team Anna.

Asked for his reaction on the Gujarat HighCourt upholding appointment of Lokayukta

by Governor, Singh wondered if Hazare wholaunched an indenite hunger strike overthe Jan Lokpal issue had overlooked thefailure of Chief Minister Narendra Modi to

appoint a Lokayukta for nine long years.

When the Governor made the appointment on the advice of Chief Justice, the Narendra Modigovernment opposed it tooth and nail.

It shows his double standard, he said.


33/47

Digvijaya Singh furnishes letter toprove Hazare-RSS linkPTI, Oct 12, 2011

After claiming that Anna Hazare is being led up the garden path by people who were againstweaker sections and reservations and that he is a mask of all anti-Congress parties, Congressgeneral secretary Digvijaya Singh has furnished a letter to prove his point.

In an interview to CNN-IBN, Singh had said Hazares campaign has been supported by the RSSand he furnished a letter to the effect on Wednesday.

According to a CNN-IBN report, Singh released a letter written by Sunil Joshi of the RSS. Keepingin view the sentiments of the masses, your movement to ght corruption is inspiring the spirit of

countrymen, the letter said.

WatchtheCNN-IBNreportabouttheletterreleasedbyDigvijayaSingh:
http://av.firstpost.com/2011/10/155242_diggi_letter_pallavi.mp4


34/47

No oer to Hazare, Digvijaydreams up things: MundePTI, Oct 12, 2011

Mumbai: Refuting Congressgeneral secretary Digvijaya Singhsclaim, BJP leader Gopinath Mundetoday said his party had not offeredto make social activist Anna Hazarethe countrys President.

BJP has not made any proposalto Hazare. Digvijay dreams up of

such things, Munde said, talkingto reporters here. He fears thatCongress is going to lose in thenext presidential election it is aconspiracy to malign BJP and AnnaHazare, Munde said.

Munde, BJPs deputy leader in Lok Sabha, also condemned attack on lawyer and Hazares associ-ate, Prashant Bhushan, in Delhi today.


35/47

RSS says it is very much part ofAnnas movementPTI, Oct 15, 2011

Gorakhpur: Insisting that it was very much part of his movement against corruption, RSS todaysaid social activist Anna Hazares comments that there was no support from the Sangh fountheadto his Jan Lokpal campaign was beyond its comprehension.

Anna had made some comments on the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and also indicated that heviewed the letter written by me in support of his movement as a conspiracy. These views, whichwere published widely in the media, go beyond my comprehension and cause immense pain tome It is tragic that a person of Annas stature too has got inuenced by narrow political conspira-cy, RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said in a statement.

He was referring to a letter written by Hazare in reply to Congress general secretary DigvijaySingh. The views expressed in his letter would prove detrimental to the anti-corruption move-ment only. It will be most unfortunate,Joshi said.

Joshis statement is all praise for Hazare, calling him a man committed to noble ideals and onewho has been leading a massive popular movement against corruption in the country. The entirecredit for the success of this movement goes to him only. I and thousands of other activists of thecountry are familiar with and inspired by the ideas articulated by him on several occasions and thedevelopmental activity undertaken by him, Joshi said.

RSS maintained that it was very much apart of Annas movement against cor-ruption both at the Ramlila grounds andacross the country.

Belying Hazares claims that RSS was nota part of the movement, RSSs head ofpropaganda (Prachar Pramukh) Manmo-han Vaidya said, Ordinary RSS workers

were present in hundreds and thousandsboth at the Ramlila grounds and acrossthe country during the anti-corruptionmovement. Not all RSS workers went upon the stage to meet Hazare.

Asked why Hazare was distancing himself from the RSS now, Vaidya said, Perhaps it is becausethere have been reports that it was RSS which was running the movement. He said though a letterof support (from Suresh Joshi) had been sent to Hazare only on 8 April, rumours had been spreadfrom 5 April, the day Hazare started his fast, that RSS was holding the campaign.

Vaidya maintained that RSS had never tried to take credit for the success of Annas campaign. Wedo not know why he says RSS support has tainted his movement, he said in reply to a question.RSS has termed the present public discourse on its involvement in the anti-corruption movementas ill-intentioned and a conspiracy to weaken the movement. It is a paramount responsibility


36/47

of the leaders of anti-corruption movements to safeguard them from narrow and low-level con-spiratorial politics, Joshi said.

He insisted that the general public gets disturbed by such controversies and hence the leadershipof such campaigns should be vigilant. Asked if RSS will work with Hazare in future, Vaidya saidthe Sangh will continue to support all movements against corruption. RSS has, however, set asideits earlier restraint while talking about Team Anna and even suggested that there were differences

within its ranks.

Asked about Prashant Bhushans views on Kashmir and it differed from that of Hazare, Vaidyasaid, One should not air personal views publicly on such issues.It is amply clear that there are differences between members of Team Anna. It is important tohave some discipline, he said.


37/47

Step 4

Annas reactions


38/47

Anna wants to be the face now,not the mask. Its a good move


Anna Hazare is a smart man, at least smarter that what his team members presume him to be.

There were indications off late that some of his team members had brought in a personal agendainto the anti-corruption movement and were using Annas appeal to that end. There were also clearhints that they sought confrontation with the government and Parliament and scoring popularitypoints more than they wanted a well-thought out Lokpal Bill passed.

The move of the team to campaign against the Congress candidate in Hisar the weakest contest-ant to begin with but presumed to be least corrupt among all those in the fray attracted seriousquestions on the apolitical nature of the anti-corruption movement. There were also questionsfrom the supporters on why they should be dragged into pro-BJP and anti-Congress or any suchpartisan political formulation, particularly when the government had still not reneged on its prom-ise on the Lokpal Bill.

Annas name was being bandied aboutto accord legitimacy to such moves.The result of this exercise was it waseroding the credibility of the Gandhian its no coincidence that he has beenunder attack from several quarters

recently. It was also raising the moreserious question: does he really controlthe movement? Or, was he just serv-ing as a mask for his more vocal teammembers who had other designs?

To add to the confusion in Team Anna,there was the Prashant Bhushan epi-sode where the senior member of Team

Anna was attacked by members of

the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena for his comments on Jammu and Kashmir plebiscite. With othermembers of the team standing rm behind Bhushan and Anna denouncing Bhushans positionin public, the division in the team looked sharp. Deep fractures in the team became clearer whenSantosh Hegde, once a prominent member of Team Anna, said that the Hisar move was wrong and

Arvind Kejriwal was talking too much.

If during all this, Anna felt he was being taken for a ride and being used by his own team, he hadreason to. Not long ago, he told in an interview to a foreign newspaper that he was kept in the darkabout the actual developments during the negotiation of Team Anna with the government repre-sentatives by some members of his team who had ego problems. He was only making the signs ofdistrust for his aides clear.

Now he is taking control. He has decided to halt the anti-Congress campaign till the winter sessionof Parliament where the Lokpal Bill is expected to be taken up. In a reciprocal move, Congress gen-eral secretary Rahul Gandhi has invited a delegation from Ralegan Sidhi, Annas home turf,


39/47

to Delhi to discuss with them a range of issues, including the Jan Lokpal Bill. The three-memberdelegation includes the sarpanch of the village, Jaisingh Mapari and Annas personal secretary,Suresh Pathre.

Anna has given us the go-ahead saying issues could be resolved only through discussions, RamdasUgale, the third representative, told The Indian Express. He also told us to take his message of

bringing an effective Lokpal Bill and making India a corruption-free country to Rahulji, Ugale toldthe paper.

With the top leaders in the Congress trying to build bridges with Anna himself Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh has already written a letter assuring the Gandhian the commitment of thegovernment to bring in a strong Lokpal Bill and Law Minister Salman Khurshid has been mak-ing placatory noises from all platforms and not his team and the Gandhian not averse to directtalks, a shift in the narrative of the anti-corruption movement is evident. Both are keen on keeping

Annas aides, who have proved to be a nuisance, out of the picture.

The government and the Congress expect Anna to be more reasonable in his approach to the Lok-pal issue than people like Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi.

Where does all this leave Team Anna? With Anna making clear he has a mind of his own and thusslipping out of their control, the members have reason to be worried. The anti-corruption move-ment could have been started by them but it became a pan-Indian phenomenon riding on Annaspersonal appeal only. His honest and innocent persona became a rallying point for the youthacross the country because it shone bright and beautiful juxtaposed to the ugliness of the corrup-tion around.

Unfortunately, none of the team members, despite their special achievements in respective elds,can match up to him. Moreover, if they come across as being at odds with Anna, they stand to lose

all popular support. If they want to stay relevant, they will have to play their cards well and stopbeing impulsive and partisan in their moves.

And yes, they must make Anna the face not the mask.


40/47

Anna to team: Dont exceed briefand speak on every issuePTI, Oct 16, 2011

In his October 10 letter to Hazare, the Prime Minister had declared governments commitment toa strong Lokpal while saying that his demand for Right to Reject provision in electoral law needspolitical consensus.

Hazare made light of Congress leader Digvijay Singhs claim that he was being set up as a Presi-dential candidate in 2012.

I neither have the aptitude nor the desire to become President. In any case, if I become PresidentI wont be able to do what I have been doing for society now.

He said the Congress and BJP were shooting in the dark by spreading such rumours.

Hazare denied that that he had received any letter from the RSS. I dont even recognise RamMadhav, he said when asked why the RSS leader was allowed on stage during the Jantar Mantaragitation.

He said he had never thanked BJPPresident Nitin Gadkari for the BJPssupport. If someone else from my teamdid, I cant say.

In a rebuff to Team Anna memberPrashant Bhushan, Hazare said he hascompletely disassociated himself withhis remarks on Kashmir.

I am against anybody who talks aboutdividing the country. I am very uncom-fortable with what Bhushan has said.

Our core committee will meet to decideon his continuing as a team member.

After it meets. I will take a decision.

Hazare also said Arvind Kejriwal was wrong in saying that Anna Hazare is above Parliament.Arvind Kejriwal has not told me what he has said. But if he did say Anna is above Parliament, its

wrong. People are above Parliament, not Anna.

He said he would tell his colleagues not to exceed their brief and speak on each and every issue.


41/47

Anna takes a dig at Bhushan;hardens Kashmir standPTI, Oct 18, 2011

Indicating hardening of stand against Prashant Bhushan, Anna Hazare today took an indirect digat the lawyer-activist saying some people talk incoherent things about Kashmir though they can-not do anything on ground.

Some people talk incoherent things about Kashmir related issues Today once again if I have to,am ready to take part in war against Pakistan. But some people can only speak and dont do any-thing on ground (for Kashmir) and this is unfortunate, he said on his blog as he continued hisindenite silence.

In the latest posting titled My Conviction about Kashmir, Hazare said he had taken active part

in the 1965 India-Pakistan war as a soldier and all his colleagues attained martyrdom on the bor-der during the war but he miraculously survived.

It was then I pledged the rest of my life in the service of my country. Even today you can see themarks on my forehead left behind by Pakistans bullet. This is my active conviction that Kashmir isan integral part of India and will remain so, he said.

According to Hazares ofcial website,Hazare was posted at the Khemkaran bor-der and on November 12, 1965, Pakistan

launched air attacks on Indian base and allof Hazares comrades became martyrs, It

was a close shave for Hazare as one bullethad passed by his head.

Hazares remarks were seen as hardeningof the stand against Bhushan, who had ad-

vocated plebiscite in Kashmir. The lawyerwas attacked in his ofce by three right-wing activists last week for his comments.

Serious differences have cropped up inTeam Anna on some important issues facing his campaign, which include the continuance ofBhushan in the Team as well as taking an anti-Congress stand. Two prominent activists have alsoquit Team Anna.

TextofAnnaHazaresblogpost:

Ralegan Siddhi18th October 2011

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,Namaskar!

Some people talk incoherent things about Kashmir related issues but they are unaware of the factthat when I was in the army I had taken active part in India-Pakistan war as a soldier. All my


42/47

colleagues attained martyrdom on the border during the war with Pakistan. But I miraculouslysurvived.

It was then I pledged the rest of my life in the service of my country.

Even today you can see the marks on my forehead left behind by Pakistans bullet. This is myactive conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so. Today once againif I have to, am ready to take part in war against Pakistan. But some people can only speak anddont do anything on ground (in reality for Kashmir) and this is unfortunate.

K. B. Hazare (Anna)

Watchvideo:AnnatakesonBhushan,sayscanghtforKashmir
http://av.firstpost.com/2011/10/anna_clarifies_kashmir.mp4


43/47

Anna to take vow of silence foratmashantiPTI, Oct 15, 2011

Pune: Social activist Anna Hazare will observe a week-long maun vrat (fasting into silence) from17 October at his native Ralegan Siddhi village for peace ofsoul, a close aide of the Gandhian said here today.

Anna has been continuously inter-acting with people after ending his12-day-fast for a strong Lokpal billin Delhi in August and this had puta lot of strain on him He needs

some respite from this He willobserve a week-long maun vrat foratmashanti, India against Corrup-tion activist Shyam Asava said.

Even otherwise, he observes maunvrat periodically in his spiritualpursuit, he said. The vow of si-lence came close on the heels ofthe recent attack and controversyinvolving key Anna Team member

Prashant Bhushan, who had advo-cated plebiscite in Kashmir.

Hazare subsequently distanced himself from Bhushans statement saying he did not agree with itand that it was the senior lawyers personal view.

Meanwhile, Hazare said Arvind Kejriwal met him today at Ralegan Siddhi. They discussed severalissues, including attacks on IAC activists and Prashant Bhushans remarks on Kashmir. The anti-graft crusader said the maun vrat is not on any specic issue but for self purication and strength-ening.


44/47

Illogical talks fail to break myspirit: AnnaPTI, Oct 19, 2011

New Delhi: Amidst two prominent activists resigning from his team objecting to the way the cam-paign is being run, Anna Hazare hit out at his critics saying he ignores incoherent and illogicaldiscussions about his movement.

In his latest blog posting during his vow of silence, Hazare said, My movement has given rise toincoherent discussions in political circles and I do not pay heed to them.

I have heard illogical discussions and interpretations crop up due to political rivalry and it hasbeen a part of my life for the last 30 years. All this fails to break my spirit. This gives me the

strength to walk the path I have chosen and will keep going ahead, he said.

He said it has been proven timeand again that a social workershould keep his ego aside and beable to digest insult and humilia-tion.

Only then it is possible for youas a social worker to do some

constructive work for the nation.People always throw stones attrees that bear fruits as it is futileto throw stones at a bare tree,the 74-year-old activist said with-out taking names of any of hiscritics or detractors.

I am the keeper of my conscious and I ignore what others have to say. My convictions are always

matched by my readiness to give them effect. Always walk the path of truth for truth is supreme.No one has dared to wrong the truth, he added.

His remarks came a day after activists PV Rajagopal and Rajinder Singh quit the team objecting tothe movement taking a political turn and claimed that it was mired in confusion.

Parties like Congress and Shiv Sena have been critical of his movement. Congress leader DigvijaySingh had attacked Hazare for his alleged RSS support while Sena chief Bal Thackeray criticisedHazare for initially keeping silent on Prashant Bhushans remarks on Jammu and Kashmir.


45/47

No links to RSS, no desire to be-come Prez: AnnaFP Staff, Oct 13, 2011

The Congress has no will to ght corruption, Gandhian Anna Hazare said today. In an eight-pagenote in reply to Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singhs letter to him on Tuesday, the anti-corruption crusader also denies any link to the RSS.

Digvijaya had alleged that Anna was backed by the RSS in his movement against graft and pro-duced a letter from a senior sangh functionary supporting the claim. Earlier, RSS chief MohanBhagwat had also claimed that the organisation was actively behind the movement.

Refuting both the claims, Anna says no one from RSS had come to meet him at Ramlila Maidanwhere he held his fast. I think the RSS chief is trying to defame me by stating that they supportedour movement, he says in the letter. He also denied that he was close to any party.

Digvijaya had alleged that Anna wassupporting the BJP by asking the votersin Hisar not the vote for the Congresscandidate. He had also said earlier thatthe BJP had promised Anna to makehim the presidential candidate.

I neither have the capacity nor the

desire to become the President of Indiaand wonder why the Congress and BJPthe are talking in the air, the Gandhiansays in his letter. He says the BJP andthe Congress are not committed totackling graft.

He accuses the Congress of trying to weaken the RTI Act by amending the original bill. DismissingDigvijayas claim that it was the Congress which kickstarted the RTI movement, he said the move-

ment began in Maharashtra in 1995.

He says the Congress has not shown any commitment to develop villages. There are many RaleganSidhis Annas native village in Maharashtra. How many such villages has the Congress devel-oped? he asks.

I know very well that people throw stones only at those trees which bear fruits. People see theworld in the colour of the glasses they wear. I think that the colour of your spectacle is wrong andyou should change it, he tells the Congress leader in his note.

Seeking to rubbish Singhs claims of the pro-activeness of successive Congress governmentsagainst corruption, Hazare said it cannot be denied that your party did not pay enough attentionto rural development. It cannot be denied that a strong law to check corruption was not enacted inthe last 64 years.


46/47

He told Singh that he would not have attempted to link him with RSS and BJP if he had knownthat because of his agitation, six cabinet ministers in the BJP-led coalition in Maharashtra had toresign.

Though you are aware of this, why you are trying to mislead people? I feel that BJP and Congresswhile showing differences between them were trying to fool the people. There is not much differ-ence between the two parties, he said.

Hazare told Singh that if he feels that the call for not to vote for Congress would help BJP, thenwhy Congress is giving it such an opportunity.

If Jan Lokpal bill and Lokayukta Act are passed immediately, wont it benet them? he said add-ing I have not agitated against Congress for 35 years but there are some people in Congress whoseintentions are not clean on removing corruption, on Jan Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts.

The country is being destroyed because of corruption and in order to avoid more damage, one isforced to give a call not to vote for Congress, Hazare, who has recently announced that he wouldappeal to people not to vote for Congress if it did not pass Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session of

Parliament, said.

Rejecting Digvijaya Singhs advice to join politics, Hazare said till the end of his life, he will not bepart of any party. False allegations of RSS support to his campaign will not cut ice with people,he said.

Referring to Singhs claims about Congress enacting the RTI Act, Hazare said the government hadtried to do away with some important clauses of the law which were its spirit.

We had got some kind of weapon in RTI to ght corruption. But your government itself had tried

to makeuseless this weapon against corruption, he said.

Questioning Congress resolve to ght corruption, Hazare asked Singh why his party did not takeany step to get Lokpal Bill enacted in the country.

Today, many Congress leaders are in jail. Was your party unaware that they were corrupt? But itseems that the party was in the habit of carrying these corrupt people along. This is the reason cor-ruption has widely spread in the country, he said.

He also objected to the usage of the word non- governmental while refering to civil society andpointed out that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as well as Singh had consulted people whiledrafting Panchayati Raj law.

It may take time to change the habits of the past 63 years but as General Secretary of your party,you need to awaken the concept of democracy in your own organisation, Hazare said.

He also alleged certain outside elements tried to create trouble in his native village of Ralegan Sid-dhi. In my whole life, I have never left a minor taint on my image. What will you gain by makingsuch false allegations?

Attacking Singh for his support to sacked Commonwealth OC chief Suresh Kalmadi and formerMaharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who are facing allegations of corruption, he said doesit reect your partys honesty which he has been vociferously advocating.


47/47

iPhoneiPad

Scan QR code or click to download our iPad / iPhone app
http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost/id445829858?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost-for-ipad/id458043826?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost/id445829858?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost-for-ipad/id458043826?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost/id445829858?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/firstpost-for-ipad/id458043826?mt=8http://www.firstpost.com/

Date post:	06-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	tapas-das
View:	219 times
Download:	0 times

FirstpostEbook_jsxjeq_20111021043431

Documents