Anna Hazare deserves praise, for forcing the UPA government to come out with a bill on the Lokpal (no matter it was effective or vice versa) in the lower house of Parliament. But his never-ending “my-way-or-the-high-way” approach has failed to hold his sway over the people for a longer time. This apart, his thoughtlessness to ask the people not to vote for the Congress in the impending assembly elections for the five states has made him to be seen as a stooge of a BJP-RSS conspiracy. Had his associates like Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi played their cards well, Anna might not have faced the ignominy of a lacklustre response to his fast in Mumbai – which has obviously emboldened the Congress to dump the bill in the Rajya Sabha. Oddly enough, wisdom appears to have finally prevailed upon Anna, when he said: “This is the start of a long fight. Maybe it will take 10 to 15 to 20 years for us to succeed.”
Syed Sultan Mohiddin
Kadapa, A.P.