While Gandhian activist Anna Hazare appears to have taken a backseat, Mr Arvind Kejriwal is now becoming the face of the movement, with the likes of Ms Kiran Bedi, former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde distancing themselves.
However, the likes of Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Kumar Viswas and Gopal Rai have thrown their weight behind Mr Kejriwal in the run-up to the unveiling of a political party on October 30.
Buoyed over by the show of strength, Mr Kejriwal claimed “this political revolution will sweep the country in the time to come”, while adding that “there is no Opposition as all parties are hand-in-glove with the Congress”.
Unlike the sober and peaceful approach of Mr Hazare, Mr Kejriwal revealed the militant face of the group, as he appeared right on Race Course Road even though the plan was to congregate at Jantar Mantar. IAC activists punctured buses to foil the police plan to swiftly clear the Prime Minister’s residence on Race Course Road, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence on Janpath and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s residence on Tughlaq Road. This enabled the activists to hold on to the street longer, while unhindered Metro services brought in scores of supporters. The police resorted to lobbing teargas and water-cannon and limited lathicharge when the activists jumped the barricades.
Mr Kejriwal called off the protest in the evening, claiming their goals had been achieved.
However, Ms Bedi noted the active support by the BJP to their movement for Jan Lokpal in the form of moving an amendment in the Lok Sabha by Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj for independence to the CBI and not allowing the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
***
‘Targeting opp. may dilute war on corruption’
age correspondent
New Delhi, Aug. 26
The main Opposition BJP on Sunday warned the erstwhile Team Anna that any attempt to target the Opposition parties might dilute the war against corruption. The party, however, welcomed the group’s political agitation, saying there was nothing wrong in it.
“We welcome their political agitation. There is nothing wrong about it. But, the fact remains that this attempt to target the opposition parties may dilute the war against corruption,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.