-The Telegraph   Anna Hazare’s group today made public the results of a “referendum” on the Lokpal bill it had conducted in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, the Lok Sabha constituency of minister Kapil Sibal. It claimed that 85 per cent of the respondents had favoured the provisions of Hazare’s “Jan Lokpal Bill” over that of the government’s bill. Group members construed the results as a vote on Sibal’s performance as MP from the constituency. “The...

With the August 16 protest deadline drawing closer, the Anna Hazare team has taken its referendum on the Lokpal bill online to mobilize support and create awareness. The team has already done surveys in various parts of the country including the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency. The results for the Delhi poll will be announced on Monday. "We have hosted an online questionnaire to mobilize support for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The...

-The Indian Express   Great expectations are pinned to the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, given the sheer volume of unfinished legislative business, and the amazing free fall of the past few months. The opposition’s passive-aggressive behaviour and the government’s reflexive obduracy over a JPC were the reason the winter session had to be written off, and that certainly contributed to the clear authority vacuum of recent months, even as agitations...

Anna Hazare has called the cabinet-cleared version of theLokpal bill a "deceit on the nation". That kind of rhetoric pretty much indicates Anna and Co's future plans. If they stick to those kinds of plans (Jantar Mantar protest theatre redux), this group of prominent people would miss a great opportunity - the opportunity to demonstrate their maturity. Yes, the cabinet has cleared a Lokpal bill that differs in important respects with...

-The Telegraph   The Union cabinet today approved the Lokpal bill after overruling Manmohan Singh, who again advocated bringing the Prime Minister within the corruption ombudsman’s ambit. The higher judiciary, conduct of MPs inside Parliament, and the lower bureaucracy too have been kept out of the Lokpal’s jurisdiction. Anna Hazare, whose civil society group had insisted on all these sections and the Prime Minister being included, termed the draft a “cruel joke” and...