First victory in a long struggle, says Team Anna
Talking to reporters, Patkar said that this was not a half-victory, but the first victory in a long struggle. "I think it is not half the victory. It is the first victory in the long process, which the whole movement will have to pass through. This is the first victory in the sense that the crux of the matter was changing the relationship between the Parliament and the people," said Patkar.
NEW DELHI: Victory was sweet and celebrations at the Maidan and across the country carried on until late in the evening, but Team Anna has already begun the process of setting bigger goals for themselves. At Ramlila Maidan itself, Team Anna -Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhusan, Kiran Bedi and Medha Patkar - gave indications that they were planning to build on the struggle. Till evening, meetings by these civil society members had led them to arrive at a consensus - the next step, beyond the stated objective of passing electoral reforms, was to ask for a set-up where people and the government could interact more closely.
She emphasized that it was Anna Hazare himself who took the decision to leave the Ramlila Maidan (earlier reports said that Anna would continue his agitation at the Maidan until the Jan Lokpal Bill was passed) since they now occupy a "broader political space which needs to be looked into.''
Arvind Kejriwal, who thanked the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians, however stressed that this was perhaps the first time in independent India that the Parliament had agreed to draft a bill with the input of the common man. "I believe that this should not become an exception and the system that allows the government to directly communicate with the people should be strengthened," Kejriwal told reporters at the Ramlila Maidan. "I think the government is not averse to bringing the Prime Minister under the Lokpal. This is the sense we got during the meetings we had with government representatives," Kejriwal added.
Meanwhile, Patkar dismissed talk that there was a rift between some members of Team Anna. "We don't have any differences. The reports that I and Prashant Bhushan went to negotiate with the government because we are moderate are totally untrue," she said. "First of all, that day it was decided that I and Prashant Bhushan will go as different people were engaged in different activities," she said. Patkar said she would not have joined the negotiating team if she had any inclination that it will lead to speculation about differences among the members. "Our views are very clear. We take decisions unitedly. We consider Arvind and his team the core team and therefore he joined us the next day when we went to meet Salman Khurshid," Patkar added.