It is quite apparent that the gulf between the government and Team Anna on the Lokpal Bill is unlikely to be bridged. Whatever amendments the government may move, the final result will be considered inferior by the man from Ralegan Siddhi and his followers. This is not a wholly unanticipated development. On Tuesday, the lines of division in Parliament were clear. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other opposition parties have...

-The Times of India Representative Politics is not just about elections. It's also about visions and issues that mould political consciousness: A lesson that has been powerfully driven home by Anna Hazare and his anti-corruption movement. No doubt, the nationwide popular groundswell, witnessed over the last few months, has changed the rules of contemporary engagement between the political classes and the civil society. The crucial Lokpal debate, beginning inParliament on Tuesday,...

-The Indian Express   The Election Commission ponders the “novel challenge” posed by Anna Hazare and his team, which has vowed to campaign against the Congress in the five states that will hold elections in the near future. According to Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, this raises questions of “propriety and ethics”. The EC, he said, would watch carefully for any breach of the model code of conduct, for any hate speech...

-PTI Asserting that Team Anna’s proposal to campaign against the Congress in the Assembly elections in five states raised questions of “propriety and ethics”, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Sunday said anything that came in the way of free and fair elections was not acceptable. “We don’t have any problem because in a democracy they have a right to oppose or support anybody. It should not be in violation of...

High drama in Lok Sabha; BJP not helping to strengthen Lokpal, says Pranab; Opposition terms Bill “weak” The Lok Sabha on Tuesday night passed a historic Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, but defeated a parallel Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill, which would have given the Lokpal constitutional status. In a major embarrassment to the UPA government, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee admitted that the government did not have the requisite two-thirds majority...