Mr Hegde, tell team Anna discretion is the better part of valour

Had only Santosh Hegde been more assertive earlier! Team Anna is in dire need of more measured members like him. On Saturday, he sought to thrust some balance into the more inflammable fellow members in the Lokpal Bill drafting committee. “We need to inform rather than threaten, if an effective and strong mechanism is not put in place,’’ he said while disapproving of Anna Hazare’s threat to go on fast from August 16. [caption id=”" align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Team Anna will have to look at options other than fasting and capitalizing on the media frenzy. Sandip Roy/Firstpost”][/caption] It is not clear who is egging on Hazare to go on a fast, but the team seems to have enough people not amenable to reason. The obsitinacy that is on display in recent times has virtually killed the highly commendable original agenda of the group. The focus has now shifted to the useless confrontation between Team Anna and the government members in the drafting committee. In a curious way, it has started following the sorry course Baba Ramdev scripted for his movement. Hegde’s intervention comes rather late in the day. Team Anna has already lost the momentum. By now it’s clear that the government will present its version of the draft Lokpal Bill in Parliament with minor concessions for the civil society members. With one final meeting of the committee left, chances of any significant accommodation from its side look remote. After the draft is ready, the case will shift to Parliament. Beyond that the government, according to its own calculation, is safe. The civil society will have to fight the combined strength of parliamentarians. As one of the columns in Firstpost has explained earlier, Anna’s group must go back to the drawing board again and draw a fresh strategy. The challenge for them is much bigger now. They should mobilise greater support among people, in their own fraternity and in the political class too. Confrontation with the government is not their goal, they should focus on their objectives and hold on to whatever they have wrangled out so far, the column had argued. Hegde has a practical point when he advises his group to go to the people. The movement needs greater mobilisation now and the efforts should be directed towards this end, not towards fuming before television cameras and making the same points over and over. Now that the government wants to have an all-party meet, the issue may shape up as a politicians vs the civil society fight. Without public goodwill the civil society will just be bulldozed to submission. Unfortunately, some elements are so possessed by the idea of attacking the government that they miss the big picture. The government seems to have gauged the weakness of Team Anna by now. “Anna Hazare is like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The tune is lilting and the people were upset with corruption as the government is. We want to deal with it. But those who follow him do not know what the Lokpal Bill is,’’ said Kapil Sibal on Saturday. He did not spell out who the follows are but it’s clear he wanted to bring the division in the Anna camp to the open. Hegde may or may not attend the June 21 meeting. But if he wants to keep a safe distance from the hardliners in his team, he cannot be blamed. The weight of self-importance foisted by 24X7 television coverage on individuals is difficult to handle. Baba Ramdev was the most recent disastrous example. Team Anna must take care. Discretion is always the better part of valour.