Ralegan Siddhi: When we arrived in Anna Hazare's village, the famous Ralegan Siddhi in rural Maharashtra, late last week, an aide had a curt message for us. Anna-ji, he said icily, was recovering from a long journey the previous day and would not be receiving any visitors.
Apparently Mr. Hazare hadn't received the memo. We found him sitting beneath a vast peepal tree in the courtyard of the village's Padmavati Temple, a sprawling compound which serves as both office and residence for Mr. Hazare. He was dressed in his usual outfit of white khadi kurta pajama topped by a jaunty topi, listening to the complaints of some local auto workers. If he was tired he didn't show it. Once the meeting wrapped up he beckoned us into the small, pink-walled room where he sleeps on an iron cot.
In the weeks since he ended his 12-day fast, he has largely been resting in Ralegan Siddhi. Sitting cross-legged on a thin mattress, a chipper and smiling Mr. Hazare spoke to us about Mahatma Gandhi, the rifts within his social movement, how he spends his days and his plan for politics.
Q. Some people compare you to Gandhi. How do you feel about that comparison?
Q. Your fasts have been called political blackmail. Is that fair?
A. What do you mean, blackmail? Am I asking for money? They have forgotten the constitution. In 1950, the people became owners of this country. Because all the people cannot go to Parliament, we have elected [politicians] to make good laws and to take care of the treasury. If they are not making good laws and not keeping the treasury clean, if I protest against that, it is not blackmail.
Q. How do you spend your day?
A. I get up at 5. I do one-and-half hours of yoga, pranayama, than meditation. At 8:30, people start coming. This continues till evening. In between I find time to write letters. I sleep at 10.
Q. What do you eat every day?
A. Roti and vegetables, one time per day. In the morning I take milk. In the evening I take one glass of juice.
Q. Thousands of people came out to support your fast. Are you worried that people's expectations of change are too high?
A. This question occurs to me, also. I don't have wealth. I live in a temple. How can a man like me, who lives in a temple, fulfill the expectations of people all across the country? What can I do? But I have faith in God that whatever the expectations of the people, somehow God will find a way for these things to be done.
Q. What is next for you? What are your aspirations?
A. I don't have any aspirations. I do my selfless work.
Q. Do you want to be prime minister? Get into politics?
A. This is muck for me. I will neither contest elections nor make a party nor go into politics. But in four or five years, if I get good people, I will ask them to fight elections.
Q. Some accuse you of having contempt for democracy.
A. People of character and principle should sit in these positions. [Parliament] is the holy temple of democracy. Holy people should go there. In our Parliament today there are 150 people with criminal backgrounds.
Q. Among your allies are Prashant Bhushan, who criticizes economic liberalization, and Arvind Kejriwal, who has been criticized for saying overly harsh things about the prime minister. Do you agree with them, and is there disunity among your senior leaders?
A. I will try to change them. There were some ego problems. From the government side it was Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal. From our side also there were some issues. I was not getting the right feedback, nor was the prime minister. That complicated the issues. Later, Vilasrao Deshmukh and another minister got involved and direct contact with the prime minister was established. I have an old relationship with Vilasrao. Then the issues were resolved. They [Mr. Bhushan and Mr. Kejriwal] are good people. I need to change them. I will change them.