In the current hullabaloo about the lok pal bill and the Anna agitation, one question has frequently been raised, both by protagonists of the Congress and the government and by constitutionalists and legal experts: however laudable the goals of Anna and his supporters, aren’t the methods adopted by them illegitimate? Doesn’t a fast unto death amount to blackmail of the legislature? Isn’t it an attempt by the unelected to usurp...

Anna Hazare's agitation in defence of his version of the Lokpal Bill seems to have revived public memories of the 1974-75 Jayaprakash Narayan-led anti-corruption mass agitation, especially among the new generation of technology-driven middle class youth in metropolitan towns of India. But can Anna Hazare's anti-corruption crusade become a benchmark comparable with the historical mass mobilisation movements launched by Gandhi from 1920 to 1947 or the one popularly known as the...

There are two broad governance issues that concern every citizen in this country today: corruption at different levels in the government, and grievances arising from the government’s poor functioning. The last few months have seen an outpouring of emotions related to these issues. It is amply clear that the people of India want no one to be above the law; everyone, irrespective of the position they hold, should be accountable. ...

-The Times of India   A day after TOI front-paged an 'appeal' to both sides to seek common ground for the sake of the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Anna Hazare, who has been on fast for eight days, saying the government would request the Lok Sabha Speaker to "formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill to the standing committee". This panel would consider all versions, including the government's, Team Anna's...

-ANI   The Third Front on Tuesday criticized the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre for formulating a Lokpal Bill, which was ineffective and weak and would fail to curb the rising corruption in the country. The leaders of the Thirds Front, which include the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the regional Telugu Desam, Janata Dal (Secular), Biju Janata Dal (BJD),...