Movement at the cross roads

There is a sense of smugness in the Congress now that some muck has been thrown at the Anna’s team. Minor transgressions by Kiran bedi’s NGO etc. Basically to prove even you are corrupt so don’t preach. Anna’s team should have expected this, government will use all its good offices to get even. The good news is that even though attempts have been made to damage Anna’s personal reputation he seems to come out clean, it is good for the Jan Lokpal movement. It is not about the core committee it is about the movement and its symbol Anna.

Coming to the core committee itself they are definitely not doing themselves any favor by committing political blunders, Prashanth Bhushans Kashmir comment will not be taken kindly by any well meaning Indian ( his opinions are well regarded on anti-corruption not on all and sundry issues). In the same way Kejriwal’s Hisar trip and taking sides is no way to cultivate popular support. Having tasted success during the Ramlila fast they may be falsely assuming that public are behind them for all the issues they espouse, they need to be more grounded and understand that the public support they are enjoying is issue based. Indians are fed up with corruption and will hitch on to any group that is fighting for the issue. Anna may be advised to get rid of some of the core members who have foot in the mouth disease. His battle is better fought being apolitical, he will lose the battle in the political arena.

What next for Anna, I think his movement has lost some of its sheen due to political color the issue has taken. Digvijay singh and team have ensured to raise doubts in the mind of public about team Anna’s credentials.

Anna himself is the person who can save this movement; he should lead from the front once again to garner public support for the most important issue in post independent India. There is a definite impact of this movement which can be seen in the high profiles arrests and investigations that are going on in the country, but will these arrests culminate in sentences, we have not yet seen that in India. Hence it is important that Anna’s mission is successful and only he can save this movement. Meanwhile his team should practice what he is doing “moun vrat”. There is a lesson here - In silence Gandhiji achieved much