The BJP is still sizing up the fallout of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption activism, undecided whether it would be able to reap political dividends, if any, from the urban, middle-class “upsurge” across the country. The leadership is expected to exchange notes and work out its strategy once the Assembly polls verdict is out. “The outcome will show whether the movement (that came in the midst of the state polls) had an impact...

After the Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare will turn his attention to the “right to recall a corporator” he had been advocating, supporters say. Hazare has been saying that the provision for “right to recall a corporator” should be made in the state government’s Area Sabha Act now under review. Vijay Kumbhar, president of the Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, said Hazare and RTI activist ARVind Kejriwal are members of the special study group...

In a veiled attack on non-government organisations (NGOs) that supported Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday suggested the Lokpal Bill should also cover “corporates and NGOs”. He also supported the idea of social activists, who are in the joint committee, declaring their assets. The Congress general secretary took a dig at Hazare for his controversial remarks that people vote for Rs 100 or a sari or a...

Enforcement Directorate has begun attaching Madhu Koda and his friends’ properties, mostly flats and land in Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, valued at over Rs 300 crore. Armed with an April 6 approval order from the adjudicating authority for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the directorate is sticking to the higher valuation even though 2007 revenue department assessments pegged the properties’ worth at around Rs 130 crore. “This is...

Social activist Anna Hazare, whose last week's fast forced the Centre to form a joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill, on Monday asked Communications and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to resign from the panel if he felt that it would be able to achieve nothing. Mr. Sibal reportedly said on Sunday that the Bill would not be able to solve problems related to education, health or civic issues. However, on...