Anna Hazare's anti-corruption agitation dangerously skidded off track on its fourth day when Swami Ramdev politicized the campaign in a speech he delivered at Jantar Mantar where the 72-year old Hazare has located his fast unto death. In an obvious allusion to Sonia Gandhi, Ramdev said those who are born in this land ( India) are rishis and that he doesn't want to talk about those born abroad. He added in...

It can seek the resignation of Constitutional authorities Areas of disagreement surface The Congress sees as a “super” government the institution of the Lokpal as proposed in the draft Jan Lokpal Bill — it would virtually run a parallel government. It will be a “demi-God” with supreme powers to run the government, sources within the Congress party feel. It can seek the resignation of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and...

Election Commission committed to far-reaching reforms: Quraishi Civil society should take responsibility of cleansing the system: Vinod Rai Political parties not interested in reforms: CEC Both Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Comptroller and Auditor-General Vinod Rai on Friday called upon the people to stand up against corruption and underlined their optimism about the future of India. Addressing the CII national conference here, both focussed on governance, ethics and social responsibility. Mr. Quraishi called upon...

To say that no one has elected Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and the rest to speak for ordinary citizens is to say the obvious. The mostly middle-class people and the chatteratti (film stars, celebrity cops and so on) who have rallied to Mr Hazare’s cause remind one of the people who held hands and lit candles after the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, saying, “Enough is enough”. TV stations...

A section of the government suspects that “bigger forces” are using the fight against corruption to achieve their “not-so-noble goals” perhaps even unknown to Anna Hazare. Although nobody would go on record, senior functionaries said in private that the destabilising games of some corporate and even international players were behind “the entire show”. “The RSS and other anti-Congress elements might have jumped in with their own little vested interests but the real...