-The Times of India   Anna Hazare's anti-corruption agitation and the UPA government's poor handling of it have cost the Congress dear, shaving off one-third of its support while boosting the popularity of its principal rival BJP. An opinion poll conducted by market researcher Nielsen for a TV channel has found that BJP has gained a 12-point lead since May, when it lagged behind the Congress. Nielsen, which gauged support for different parties...

Around the time Anna Hazare ended his fast at Ramlila Maidan and declared "electoral reforms" as his next agenda, 15 different organizations under the aegis of "Forum For Good Governance" kicked off a daylong deliberation on the same issue. Eminent members of the judiciary, political class, civil society and bureaucracy participated in the national conference on the 'urgency of electoral and political party reforms'. The success of Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement...

-Express News Service   Chief Minister Mayawati today put her weight behind fears that casteist and communal forces were trying to subvert the Constitution in the garb of the Jan Lokpal Bill, and asked the Centre to ensure that the legislation was created “within the framework of the Constitution”, and gave proper representation to SCs, STs, OBCs and religious minorities at all important levels. Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister added: “The...

-The Economic Times   At the time of writing, efforts are on to find an amicable solution to the Jan Lokpal Bill agitation and let us hope that a satisfactory solution will be found to deal with the very serious malady of corruption. I appeal to Anna Hazare to break his fast as the nation can't take any risk with the condition of his health. Corruption in high places is undoubtedly a matter...

In the current hullabaloo about the lok pal bill and the Anna agitation, one question has frequently been raised, both by protagonists of the Congress and the government and by constitutionalists and legal experts: however laudable the goals of Anna and his supporters, aren’t the methods adopted by them illegitimate? Doesn’t a fast unto death amount to blackmail of the legislature? Isn’t it an attempt by the unelected to usurp...