Monday, May 20th 05:08 AM IST
 

Ramdev is a more potent political force than Anna Hazare

Simantik Dowerah

With all due respect to the septuagenarian, Anna Hazare is now a spent force. Anna's last spark was seen in August 2011 at the Ramlila ground when he managed to drawraw people in thousands and the rest like Baba Ramdev played second fiddle. But the Yoga-guru, who is a master in breathing exercises, also silently picked the right scents of the atmosphere. It was evident that ego tussles, internal bickering and a directionless momentum soon took centre stage in Anna's camp. The bearded Baba was waiting for this moment. He soon became a crowd puller for events where Anna and party were to shine. As Team Anna kept pondering over a political or a non-political course, the team was suddenly disbanded. This allowed Baba Ramdev, who with his large and loyal followers, to unleash an agitation against the Congress and draw NDA near. Now even if Anna's erstwhile team goes political, Ramdev already made the first impact. And he hijacked Lokpal too.read less read more

Arun George

Anna Hazare’s movement is founded on a strong plank of anti-corruption and unlike Ramdev, he has a reputation that is both unsullied and unquestionable. He has also said he would backback the next political alternative only if the candidates were worthy of being elected and were not corrupt. Ramdev on the other hand will back the existing political parties without requiring them to change anything about themselves or any corrupt leaders as long as they enlist support for his movement. In this respect, Anna Hazare’s movement is more potent since it offers people an alternative from the political system they have tired of.read less read more