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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Booze-and-bucks vote? Not for Anna

Booze-and-bucks vote? Not for Anna

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published Published on Apr 11, 2011   modified Modified on Apr 11, 2011
Anna Hazare trusts Narendra Modi on “development” but not the maturity of the Indian voter.

Fresh from the Lok Pal “victory”, the social activist has said he will never contest an election as most Indian voters do not value their vote and sell it for money and liquor.

“I will lose my deposit if I stand for elections.… The voter is not aware. Many of them cast their votes for a 100-rupee note or a bottle of liquor. The voter is yet to understand the value of his vote,” Hazare said at one of the many media interactions he had over the course of the day.

The 73-year-old Gandhian said all who did not exercise their franchise should be banned for “five years from voting” and called for the right to recall elected representatives if they were found corrupt or incapable.

Modi came in for praise from Hazare on “development” — something over which the Gujarat chief minister had received effusive plaudits from several industrialists.

The activist, who also applauded Nitish Kumar for progress in Bihar, made it clear he wasn’t looking at the riot taint on Modi, only work at the grassroots.

“I do not support communal riots or any such thing. I am only talking about decentralisation of power,” Hazare said, holding up Modi and Nitish as “examples”.

The comments drew mixed reactions, with Congress MP Rashid Alvi saying “no secular person can support Modi”. “If you support Modi, you are supporting the massacre of 2002.”

But BJP spokesperson Sahnawaz Hussain praised Hazare for citing Gujarat and Bihar as models. “These are NDA-ruled states. Concrete steps are being taken there against corruption. It is good he cited both states as examples.”

Hazare, who ended his 98-hour fast yesterday to demand a revamped Lok Pal Bill, made the comments today while rejecting reports of differences between leading members of his movement over the inclusion of the father-son lawyer duo of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the joint drafting committee for the bill.

Baba Ramdev had yesterday suggested that the inclusion of the Bhushans but not of former top cop Kiran Bedi was a sign of “nepotism”. Hazare said he had spoken to Ramdev and urged him to keep the differences aside.

“The committee needs experts who can draft a stronger bill. Who should be part of it and who should stay out are not important matters,” Hazare said.

Ramdev today pointed a finger at the media. “The question of nepotism was raised by the media and not me. When I was asked about it, I said though we have played a role in the Lok Pal Bill movement, we had no say in the formation of the committee.… I do not have a problem with the inclusion of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the panel,” he said in Hardwar.

Shanti Bhushan himself said his son had raised the issue but maintained that it was Hazare who felt that both needed to be a part of it as experts. “Prashant had himself raised the issue with Anna Hazare. But Hazare said it is only a coincidence that two distinguished lawyers happen to be father and son. So Prashant had to give in,” the senior Bhushan said.

Bedi said that she never wanted to be a part of the 10-member drafting committee and went on to urge the media to give the anti-graft campaign as much coverage as they had to the recent cricket World Cup. “This is an A-plus team. Only those people can be part of this committee who can help in making a law that will look into all aspects of fighting corruption,” Bedi, who was at the news conference with Hazare, said.

Neither Hazare nor the others answered how the bill would tackle corruption in areas where the private sector has replaced the government. The draft bill only looks at corruption by politicians and government functionaries.

Apart from Bedi, Hazare was accompanied by RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal — chosen as one of the members of the drafting panel — who helped the septuagenarian answer tricky questions. Kejriwal later claimed that Hazare was hard of hearing and needed clarifications on the questions.

One such question was whether the five civil society members on the committee would declare their assets, like politicians do. Kejriwal said the committee members may not do so as they, unlike politicians, would not exercise any executive powers.

“Don’t make this (declaring of assets) a religious superstition kind of a thing... do not see a conspiracy everywhere,” said Kejriwal, a former IRS officer.

Hazare said he would put the suggestion before the committee members but tried to make a distinction. “Assets earned from hard work is not wrong. What we are against is black money,” Hazare said, perhaps conscious that most members of the committee, like the successful Bhushan lawyers, earned well.

He said the drafting of the bill would start from April 16 and he would insist that the proceedings be telecast for greater transparency. “I will undertake another fast if the Lok Sabha does not pass the bill by August 15.”

Hazare and the others also came to the defence of Anupam Kher, whose house was attacked yesterday after his alleged comments on the Constitution. They said the actor had only talked about ridding the Constitution of its defects.

The Telegraph, 11 April, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110411/jsp/nation/story_13838669.jsp


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