Some of the political leaders faced uncomfortable moments as Anna Hazare supporters jeered to any hints from them over disagreement with the Jan Lokpal Bill. Seasoned parliamentarian and CPI leader A.B. Bardhan was apparently shocked when the crowd vociferously jeered to his suggestion that they should not mind even if it takes a couple of years to effectively fight corruption.
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat had to pacify the agitated crowd by clarifying what Mr Bardhan meant. “Comrade Bardhan did not suggest that the Lokpal Bill should wait for a couple of years. He rather said that it should be immediately passed but the fight against corruption will take much longer time,” Ms Karat said.
NCPRI representative Nikhil Dey too had to face a loud jeer as he took a different stand on Lokpal than as advocated by Team Anna. Even Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav did not escape hostile crowd when he said that there were corrupt persons even among those who support Mr Hazare.
Team Anna member Kumar Viswash had to repeatedly plead with the crowd to listen to the leaders with respect as they were Mr Hazare’s invited guests. However, the crowd did not allow any political leaders to speak anything against Jan Lokpal Bill.
However, in a deja vu-like situation, scenes from Mr Hazare’s previous agitations at the same venue and Ramlila Maidan came alive as his supporters, wearing “I am Anna” T-shirts and Gandhi caps, swayed the tricolour and sloganeered in praise of the 73-year-old.
While many came to support the man who has taken on the government to enforce his means of ending corruption, some others strolled from nearby Connaught Place during their weekend outing to get the feel of the agitation which was “all over TV”.
In a display of varied colours from the palette of society, there were people from the urban middle-class as well as the lower strata, men and women of all age groups, many of them with their children — some as young as just a few months old. A man dressed as Mahatma Gandhi moved among the crowds with people coming forward to shake hands with him.
A group of youngsters, flaunting the tricolour painted on their faces, told this newspaper that they believe that Mr Hazare doesn’t have a vested interest in bringing his version of the anti-corruption bill, unlike politicians. “While the government doesn’t have a pulse of the people, the common man looks up to Anna as a sincere man who understands their problems,” said Ankur Gupta, a software engineer.
When asked their opinion on members of Team Anna, the youths said the allegations against Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal could be the handiwork of those against implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill. “However, if the charges against them are found to be true, it will definitely be breach of the people’s trust. But we are here basically to support Anna. It won’t be his fault if he is misled by some people,” said Vipin Chanana, a CA student.