-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...
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Arvind Kejriwal, RTI activist and Magsaysay award winner interviewed by Vidya Subrahmaniam
'We want to pressure the government and assert our rights as citizens.' Arvind Kejriwal received the Magsaysay award in the Emergent leadership category in 2006. A mere five years later, he has far surpassed that milestone, winning acclaim and notice for the way he conceived and crafted Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. He talks to Vidya Subrahmaniam about the Jan Lokpal campaign, what it accomplished and why it often became controversial. The scale...
More »Scanning 2.4 Billion Eyes, India Tries to Connect Poor to Growth by Lydia Polgreen
Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen. His name, year of birth and address were recorded. A worker guided Mr. Gangar’s rough fingers to the glowing green surface of a scanner to record his fingerprints. He peered into an iris scanner shaped like binoculars that...
More »Left holds Anna flag aloft
-The Telegraph Anna Hazare has returned to his village in Maharashtra but the Left seems to be taking his struggle forward. Four Left parties will tomorrow march to Parliament Street to press for measures to tackle graft. The issues they plan to raise are similar to what Hazare had voiced when he broke his fast at Ramlila Maidan. The five issues on which the comrades will march are: an effective Lokpal, separate mechanism...
More »The false Gandhi by Salil Tripathi
Gandhi’s struggle was to get Indians to choose their destiny, not letting a moralist to decide on their behalf During the 12 days of melodrama when India apparently solved the problem of corruption, one claim Kisan Baburao Hazare’s followers consistently made was that his fast was a non-violent, Gandhian protest. If Mohandas Gandhi could go on a fast-unto-death to force a government to relent, so could Hazare. Hazare’s media-savvy handlers ensured that...
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