Anna Hazare is still a magnet for middle class India

Anna might not be India. But today, a storm in a Gandhi cap engulfed the country. Sunday’s protest proved that eight months after Anna first sat on a fast asking for a strong Lokpal, he is still a magnet for the middle class Indian. Today literally all roads led to Jantar Mantar. A crowd of around 3000 people made up of youth, the elderly, children, families, students and women thronged the venue. Some of them, like Anup Singh of Patiala, had camped there since last night so that they would be able to catch a glimpse of Anna close up when he arrived on stage. “I have pasted all the posters here from my own pocket,” said Singh, 73. [caption id=“attachment_153506” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Hazare still enjoys massive middle class support: Reuters”]  [/caption]The Delhi police had erected barricades at both entrances leading to Jantar Mantar. Thousands of CRPF personnel and five companies of the Delhi police were on duty. The day began with Kiran Bedi briefing the crowd about the anomalies in the government version of the Lokpal bill while the song “Pass karo Jan lok pal,” which was made popular during the agitation in August, played in the background. Manish Sisodia, a member of Team Anna, addressing the crowd said, “The issue is simple. The government runs this country with our money and we have every right to know that how our money is spent." Team Anna has rejected the Parliament’s standing committee report on Lokpal saying it is a weak draft and cannot tackle corruption. The report’s credibility is in question as 16 out of the 30 members of the committee have submitted dissent notes on various issues. Team Anna says that the government has gone back on all the assurances it made to Anna Hazare, to convince him to break his fast on 16 August. Unlike on previous occasions, this time the leaders of various political parties shared the stage with Anna Hazare and participated in a debate on the anti-graft bill. However the Congress did not participate. Following the debate, Anna Hazare addressed the crowd at 4pm. Despite his fast, Hazare showed no sign of weakness during his 45 mintute speech. He said he would continue the fight against corruption until his last breath. Inviting the country’s youth to fight against graft, Hazare said, “You need not worry if they threaten you. If they dump us in the prison. It will lead to a chain reaction and our supporters will fill the prisons across the country,”. After his address which concluded with a rendition of Vande Mataram, Anna left for Maharashtra Sadan where he broke his fast. The core committee of India Against Corruption, which managed the event, plans to meet on 14 and 15 December to decide their future plan of action. Discussions will likely centre around Anna’s fast at the Ramlila ground on 27 December, which is expected to continue till 5 January.