In wake of Anna Hazare and Ramdev, opposition craves spotlight

The opposition parties, especially the BJP and its NDA friends, are quite wary of social activist Anna Hazare and yoga instructor Ramdev. Janata Dal (United) leader and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav said on Saturday that “Ram Manohar Lohia (the socialist guru of a whole generation of Indian socialists like Yadav himself) used to say that a fast shifts attention from the issue to the person.”

That is a subtle way of disapproving politics based on fasts, and saying that the whole fuss was about Hazare and Ramdev more than the issues that they have raised. But Yadav is quick to point out that black money and corruption are burning issues, and whenever the opposition raised them in parliament, the government would ignore them. He hits out at the media: “It (the publicity for civil society) has been outsourced to you (the media).”

He seems to feel that Hazare and Ramdev are hogging the headlines and political debate is given no importance. He said that the media never reported the opposition’s criticism of the government over the 2G spectrum scam, Adarsh housing society controversy and the embezzlement of funds during the Commonwealth Games (CWG). On the other hand, there was wall to wall coverage of Hazare and Ramdev.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman meanwhile said that the party supported the causes for which Anna Hazare and Ramdev have agitated, making it clear that the party should not be seen as championing the two individuals who are the centre of news at the moment. There is a lurking fear that a national party like the BJP would be seen as hanging on to the coat-tails of novices like Hazare and Ramdev.