Anna’s Gandhigiri costs netas dearly

At the outset, let us admit that Anna Hazare is not Mohandas Gandhi. But dressed in a dhoti-kurta outfit complete with a Gandhi cap, he has managed to revive the Mahatma’s principles. No wonder that his detractors were in a sweat last week when his fast against corruption dominated headlines across the country.

Over the years, Hazare had often been looked upon as a puppet in the hands of politicians out to settle scores against each other. Whether it was the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) or the Shiv Sena, every party used him to give credence to its battle against those in the system. But nobody in his wildest dreams would ever have imagined that this native of Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district would break free of political shackles, hold the capital of India hostage, and win admirers across the country.

There were initial signs that political puppetry would once again be at play. Many dismissed the agitation as a political ploy of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to defame the ruling parties. Political managers in the Congress felt that Hazare would restrict his attack to NCP president Sharad Pawar. But eventually it became clear that the septuagenarian’s agitation would not stop short of blaming even Congress president Sonia Gandhi or prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh for the cesspool of corruption in the country. The party then cleverly deflected the issue by extending sympathy to Hazare’s cause and partly agreeing to his demands.

Unfortunately, the Congress and the NCP have not been able to provide convincing answers about the systemic deterioration that they, too, are prisoners of. In a candid admission, an NCP cabinet minister said: “Money and muscle power are integral to election victories. The 2009 elections saw individuals spending up to Rs40-50 crore. How does one recover such sums without resorting to the black money route?”

The electoral reforms which have been debated for the past two decades have remained on the backburner because politicians believe it is easier to manoeuvre the system with money and muscle power instead of allowing people to exercise their democratic rights without fear or favour. It is this arrogance of political parties in holding the system hostage for petty personal gains which is the reason why Hazare’s campaign struck a chord with people across the country and you had thousands rallying around a little known man.

While it is true that the media played a significant role in scaling up the agitation to unforeseen proportions what cannot be discounted is the support extended by the masses. Its quantum cannot be measured in terms of public turnout alone. There is a larger silent section which connected to the cause even if it was not heard or seen.

In the Indian politics of today, the significance of Gandhi as a symbol of Indian currency has overshadowed his principles and values. No matter how much politicians chide Hazare for resorting to Gandhigiri, they cannot give the larger issue of corruption a quiet burial. Instead of ridiculing the agitation, they need to engage in introspection. After all, if Hazare has become larger than life, it is because the remote control of the system whose decay the whole nation is mourning is in the hands of politicians.
shubhangi@dnaindia.net