Anna Hazare's effect not lost in the margin

The Congress finished a poor third and forfeited its deposit in the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election, results for which declared on Monday. Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidate and Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi was the victor.
Bishnoi scraped through with a narrow margin of 6,323 votes over his main rival Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Bishnoi polled 3,55,941 votes while Chauthala got 3,49,618 votes. Bishnoi’s father, late Bhajan Lal, had won the Hisar seat in 2009 by a margin of 6,983 votes.
Congress’ Jai Parkash polled 1,49,785 votes, which is much reduced from the 2,04,539 he got in 2009 and when too he had trailed third. The party had nearly 54,000 votes less this time round, while the change in margin of the winner was about 660 votes.
Team Anna was happy that the Congress had lost but it tried to distance itself from the victory of Bishnoi, who said his victory was not because of the Anna-factor. “This was not our seat. It was held by Bhajan Lal who passed away recently, and there is nothing surprising about his son retaining it. This does happen in Indian politics,” said Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary.
She asserted that the defeat was not a verdict on Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. “One by-election does not mean any such thing. The Congress has been in power for some time, so it does lead to some fatigue, but then as chief minister he still has some battery left,” she said, adding that chief minister’s do not come with an expiry date.
On Team Anna taking credit for this outcome, Chaudhary said that the right thing would have been if Arvind Kejriwal was fielded.l
He is the local man and that would have been the right thing to do, if they wanted to claim any credit,” Chaudhary said.
Speaking to DNA, Congress general secretary and party in-charge in Haryana BK Hari Prasad said that the verdict was on expected lines. “Congress lost Hisar even during the Sonia Gandhi wave in 2009. Kuldeep Bishnoi won on the sympathy vote for his late father, Bhajan Lal,” he said, denying that the Anna Team had any contribution to make in the Congress defeat. “They are shining on borrowed feathers.”
But Team Anna had its own take. “Congress doesn’t understand the language of fast. It only understands the language of votes.
Hisar elections were a sort of referendum for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The results have given clear indications to the Congress about what people want. They should learn from it,” said Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal. “We are not against any party. If the Congress passes a strict Lokpal Bill in the upcoming winter session, we will end our protest against it. We are protesting and asked people to vote against the Congress as that will put pressure on it to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.”
Kejriwal cleared the air on why Anna decided not to go ahead with his UP tour. “We are not anti-Congress. Annaji would have come to this UP tour but he has given time to the government till the winter session. The prime minister has written a letter to him and we respect that. He has asked people to keep a watch on Parliament until the bill is passed,” Kejriwal said. He, however, warned the Congress that if it didn’t pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session, Team Anna would ask people to vote against Congress in UP assembly elections

Will work with Congress if Lokpal Bill is passed: Anna Hazare

RALEGAN SIDDHI: After campaigning against it in the Hisar Lok Sabha by election, Anna Hazare today said he will work with Congress across the country if the UPA government brings a strong Lokpal Bill in the Winter session of Parliament and keeps its words on other reforms.
But he also sent out a warning to the Congress that if the Lokpal Bill was not passed in the Winter session he will work against Congress in the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states like in Hisar.
In an interview to 'Aaj Tak' before going on 'Maun Vrat', the Gandhian said after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's latest letter to him he was encouraged that the government would bring a strong Lokpal, the channel said in a release.

"If the government brings a strong Lokpal and keeps its other promises, why should I oppose the Congress. In fact we will work with the Congress," he said referring to the Lokpal Bill and to electoral reforms including right to reject, decentralisation and more powers to gram sabhas.
Seeking to dispel the notion that Team Anna is anti-Congress, he denied that Team Anna had against Congress in Hisar at the behest of BJP and RSS.
"I have only seen him (RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat) on TV, I have never met him or spoken to him. These are all allegations. In politics political parties are ready to do anything. The Congress, BJP and RSS are together conspiring to defame Anna. I have nothing to do with the RSS or BJP," Hazare said.
Hazare denied that that he had received a letter from the RSS. "I don't even recognise Ram Madhav," he said when asked why the RSS leader was allowed on stage during the Jantar Mantar agitation.
He said he had never thanked BJP President Nitin Gadkari for the BJP'S support. "If someone else from my team did, I can't say."
In a rebuff to Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan, Hazare said he completely disassociated himself with his remarks on Kashmir.
"I am against anybody who talks about dividing the country. I am very uncomfortable with what Bhushan has said. Our core committee will meet to decide on 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, it's 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.
Hazare laughed off Congress leader Digvijay Singh's claim that he was being set up as a Presidential candidate in 2012.
"I neither have the aptitude nor the desire to become President. In any case, if I become President I won't 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.

A welcome respite

Politics, essentially, is the art of negotiation. By deciding to halt the anti-Congress campaign till Parliament's winter session, Anna Hazare has demonstrated a political maturity that's essential to democratic policymaking. He has assured the Congress that he will not campaign in UP elections and will instead wait for the government to bring a Lokpal Bill in the forthcoming Parliament session. There is much merit in the prime minister writing to Anna - promising a strong Lokpal Bill but also broaching the subject of anti-corruption reforms in other sectors - in a letter that's serious in tone and intent. And Rahul Gandhi has invited a delegation from Ralegan Siddhi, Anna's village, to discuss development work as well as the controversial Jan Lokpal Bill.

These welcome shifts have come in the wake of a continued war of words, with the ruling Congress and Team Anna levelling sordid accusations at each other. Now both sides need to rein in their tempers and have productive negotiations sans acrimony for drafting a strong Lokpal Bill. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, in particular, needs to desist from throwing endless jibes at Anna. Team Anna members, too, must exercise restraint. All parties concerned need to remember that Anna's anti-graft movement, transformed into a pan-Indian phenomenon, has raised people's aspirations for corruption-free governance and systemic reforms.
Corruption will undoubtedly rank as a major poll issue in next year's assembly elections to states like UP, Gujarat and Punjab. Mention may be made in this context of the Congress's defeat in the just-concluded Hisar by-polls, even without making too much of the Anna effect. Team Anna had actively campaigned against the Congress - but the latter's candidate in any case was never in a winning position. The important issue here is that the Anna movement has rendered graft an integral part of political and governance discourse.
Amid the heightened public mood for systemic reform, all stakeholders need to concentrate on the Lokpal Bill. Culling out the most effective measures from the various versions of the anti-graft legislations will be their first task. While the UPA's Lokpal Bill is essentially ineffective, Anna's Jan Lokpal too suffers from serious flaws. Civil society worker Aruna Roy's anti-graft recommendations strike a middle path between the two. Putting together an effective legislation from this range of measures, tackling big-ticket corruption as well as routine grievances, require threadbare discussions. Both the Congress and Team Anna must live up to people's expectations by beginning this debate.

Anna Hazare stir is Brahminical: Swami Agnivesh

Anna Hazare stir is Brahminical: Swami Agnivesh
NEW DELHI: Swami Agnivesh, who was sidelined by Team Anna because of their suspicion that he was a "government mole", hit out on Saturday at his former comrades, accusing them of promoting a cult around Anna Hazare and behaving like Brahmanvadis.
"Everyone was wearing 'I am Anna' written cap...what was that...it was an attempt to build a cult...They should not have tried to do this...This was Brahmanvad," Agnivesh said.
Agnivesh also criticized and demanded apology from another Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal for his remark that Anna is above Parliament. "Those who have said that their leader is above Parliament must apologize," he said.
Though the Arya Samaj leader took no name, the remark highlighted the bitterness between him and Team Anna.
Once a visible figure in Team Anna's activities, Agnivesh lost his prominence after a TV channel stealthily filmed him criticizing his former colleagues to one Kapilji on phone. The "sting" was carried out when Anna and his colleagues were locked in a tense confrontation with the government, and was seen as an act of betrayal by anti-corruption campaigners.
Agnivesh's claim that the "Kapilji" he was talking to was not HRD minister Kapil Sibal, but Kapilji Maharaj, a guru, did not find any takers from the anti-graft brigade.
Agnivesh chose the platform of the All India Federation of SC/ST Organizations - known critics of Team Anna and their version of the Jan Lokpal bill - to air his views. The Federation has alleged that the terms of the Jan Lokpal bill were loaded against non-upper castes: something that Agnivesh did not seem to agree with while he was with Team Anna. Naturally, the accusation of Brahmanvad went down well with his audience.
Agnivesh reasoned that he fell out with Team Anna after he failed to convince them to push the parliamentary Standing Committee considering the Lokpal bill to incorporate the provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill.
"...I tried to persuade them that the Standing Committee can make changes in government's version of Lokpal bill. It has the power to change the entire legislation...It is like a mini-Parliament....and we should meet, pressurize and convince the Committee to adopt provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill...we should keep meeting the Committee...but they did not listen to me," Agnivesh said.
Addressing the gathering, dalit leader Udit Raj demanded representation of dalits, Muslim and backwards in the Lokpal Committee and asked Anna Hazare to accept the provisions of Bahujan Lokpal to get the support of these social groups. "We want reservation in Lokpal. We demand that expand the Lokpal committee to accommodate social groups," he said, arguing that no law would be successful if it did not enjoy support of 85% of the population.

Anna Hazare starts week-long 'maun vrat'

Social activist Anna Hazare today began his week-long 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) at his native village for "atma shanti" (peace of soul).
"Anna began his maun vrat this morning. He is sitting under a banyan tree near the Padmavati temple here," Hazare's close aide, Datta Awari, told PTI.
The 74-year-old Gandhian will stay in a 'kuti' (hut) during the maun vrat, Awari said.
Hazare has been continuously interacting with people after ending his 12-day-old fast for a strong Lokpal Bill in Delhi in August, and this put a lot of strain on him, Awari said.
The vow of silence comes close on the heels of the recent assault by suspected Ram Sene activists on a key 'Team Anna' member, Prashant Bhushan, who had advocated a plebiscite in Kashmir.
Hazare has distanced himself from Bhushan's statement, saying he did not agree with it and that it was the senior lawyer's personal view.
After campaigning against it in the Hisar Lok Sabha by election, Anna Hazare had yesterday said he will work with Congress across the country if the UPA government brings a strong Lokpal Bill in the Winter session of Parliament and keeps its words on other reforms.
But he had also sent out a warning to the Congress that if the Lokpal Bill was not passed in the Winter session he will work against Congress in the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states like in Hisar.
In a TV interview ahead of his 'maun vrat', the Gandhian had said after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's latest letter to him he was encouraged that the government would bring a strong Lokpal.
"If the government brings a strong Lokpal and keeps its other promises, why should I oppose the Congress. In fact we will work with the Congress," he had said referring to the Lokpal Bill and to electoral reforms including right to reject, decentralisation and more powers to gram sabhas.
Seeking to dispel the notion that Team Anna is anti-Congress, he had denied that Team Anna had campaigned against Congress in Hisar at the behest of BJP and RSS.
"I have only seen him (RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat) on TV, I have never met himor spoken to him. These are all allegations. In politics, political parties are ready to do anything. The Congress, BJP and RSS are together conspiring to defame Anna. I have nothing to do with the RSS or BJP," Hazare had said.
Insisting that it was very much part of his movement against corruption, RSS had yesterday said Hazare's comments that there was no support from the Sangh fountainhead to his Jan Lokpal campaign was beyond its comprehension.
"Anna had made some comments on the RSS chief and also indicated that he viewed the letter written by me in support of his movement as a conspiracy. These views, which were published widely in the media, go beyond my comprehension and cause immense pain to me.
"It is tragic that a person of Anna's stature too has got influenced by narrow political conspiracy," RSS General Secretary Suresh "Bhaiyyaji" Joshi had said in a statement.
He was referring to a letter written by Hazare in reply to Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh.
"The views expressed in his letter would prove detrimental to the anti-corruption movement only. It will be most unfortunate," Joshi had said.