Tactically smart Team Anna isolates Congress, ensures BJP, CPI support

The stage is set for Annalila, version 3. Brace for some high-voltage action in the coming days. At Jantar Mantar today, on display was the abject surrender of the opposition to Team Anna. The BJP crawled when it was expected to bend a bit, the CPM and the Janata Dal (U) followed suit. The CPI and the Samajwadi Party summoned some courage to say that not everything was acceptable about the Jan Lokpal Bill. But that was all about it. There was not even a subtle criticism of the flaws in Team Anna’s bill and the hint to them to be accommodating to the perspective of others. [caption id=“attachment_153453” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Indian social activist Anna Hazare,center, talks to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley, right as Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat looks on. Manish Swarup/AP”]  [/caption] It was also evident that many of the unresolved issues of August remain where they were. There was no substantive discussion on the contentious questions involving the proposed Lokpal, no inclination to get the micro picture right. The opposition, still fixated on collecting political brownie points, was getting them by bucketfuls by default riding on Team Anna’s efforts and follies of the Congress. It spells more trouble for the Congress. It is completely isolated now and after the FDI debacle, may end up with more egg on the face as the Lokpal bill comes up for discussion in the house. It continues to remain confused, cornered and directionless while Team Anna has added more confidence to its swagger. Prior to the debate today, there were minor changes in the public mood. The media had turned less hyper this time and taking care to appear more balanced. However, it still has not mustered the courage to ask probing questions to members of Team Anna and its supporters. The other civil society groups, who had virtually been bulldozed into keeping silent, had started raising meek objections to Team Anna’s version of the Lokpal. In general, there were more doubts in the minds of people capable of thinking independently and dispassionately. While the development in the last couple of months were a minor setback for Team Anna, it has recovered well after today’s event. The Congress continues to slip in public estimation. What was expected of today’s event was some introspection and discussion on some niggling questions which need reasoned answers. There are many questions indeed – Is the creation of new institutions is really a solution to the problem of malfunctioning institutions or we should be working on correctives to the existing ones? What is the guarantee that the institution of the Lokpal with overarching powers and a massive bureaucracy to manage won’t go the same way as other institutions? How does the Lokpal ensure that the middle and lower level staff in its own fold remain honest and incorruptible? Should it be handling the entire spectrum of 65 lakh employees, starting from group A and ending with group D? Should not there be checks on the powers of the Lokpal? How can you make one institution so powerful vis-a-vis all others in violation of the principle of checks and balances which is so crucial to democracies? There many more questions, all genuine, which need to be explained. These are about the institution of the Lokpal itself and the broader question of how it is done. Some could have been raised subtly today. But in the current mood of high emotion, crowd-pleasing rhetoric and political brinksmanship, nobody looked keen on that. There was no strong argument from any of the political parties against any of the demands raised by Anna Hazare’s associates. It was disappointing from a broader point of view. But all credit must go to Team Anna. It has played its game remarkably well. It has made the political class look miserable. If it finally manages to shove down its flawed bill down the throat of the nation, it would be the ultimate – and well-deserved – insult to our leaders. The move to shed inhibition about partnering politicians in its cause was tactically brilliant.