Will BJP replace Congress?
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement is a success. Previously the watchdogs would detect malpractices as they occurred and clean up the mess afterwards. But now they are asked to prevent malpractices: it reduces scope for the mess to be created in the first place.
There should be transparency in public procurement. It’s high time politicians became truly serious about curbing black money.
Team Anna also talked about electoral reforms. The political class would do well to take the initiative here, pushing for strict auditing of party finances, mandatory disclosure of poll funding and greater checks on entry of criminal elements into politics.
Team Anna demanded nothing less than the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill and the breakthrough came after Pranab Mukherjee took over as chief negotiator with a new team of interlocutors to reach out directly to Hazare.
No one can deny that the Anna Hazare Andolan (AHA) has raised awareness about the need to combat corruption in the political process. AHA is clear about what exactly corruption is. It is about financial wrongdoing and pilfering of public money. It involves misuse of power. If misuse of power is an issue then power flows from not only control of state institutions but also from social and economic inequalities. Who is benefiting most from corruption? Yes, the politically powerful, and also the economically powerful in industry, trade and business.
AHA's solutions to corruption are moral exhortations and legal enactments. Most of the people who thronged the streets against corruption are from the middle classes who support the campaign against corruption. Laws and institutions are clearly important to the fight against corruption. AHA made it clear that it is the people and not Parliament which is supreme. The campaign, in fact, questioned the sovereignty of Parliament. For sure, the AHA jolted the political system. With the political mishandling of the situation, the government had not only lost credibility but also the trust of the people who came out on the streets to vent their anger. A weakened government had no choice but to offer some concessions to get Hazare to call off his fast. The government realized the need of a balance between the need for strong anti-corruption measures and at the same time need to not allow Parliament's authority in legislation to be undermined.
In the previous anti-corruption campaigns - the JP movement in the mid-1970s and the anti- corruption "movement" of V P Singh in the late 1980s - the mood was not only against the political class but against the Congress government. The main objective of the earlier campaigns was regime change; both catapulted the BJP to the centre stage of national politics. The RSS claimed that its cadres formed at least 10% of the AHA's mass base. This time also the RSS was presumably hoping to remove an elected government. The question is will Anna’s movement lead to BJP replacing Congress in the next poll?
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement is a success. Previously the watchdogs would detect malpractices as they occurred and clean up the mess afterwards. But now they are asked to prevent malpractices: it reduces scope for the mess to be created in the first place.
There should be transparency in public procurement. It’s high time politicians became truly serious about curbing black money.
Team Anna also talked about electoral reforms. The political class would do well to take the initiative here, pushing for strict auditing of party finances, mandatory disclosure of poll funding and greater checks on entry of criminal elements into politics.
Team Anna demanded nothing less than the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill and the breakthrough came after Pranab Mukherjee took over as chief negotiator with a new team of interlocutors to reach out directly to Hazare.
No one can deny that the Anna Hazare Andolan (AHA) has raised awareness about the need to combat corruption in the political process. AHA is clear about what exactly corruption is. It is about financial wrongdoing and pilfering of public money. It involves misuse of power. If misuse of power is an issue then power flows from not only control of state institutions but also from social and economic inequalities. Who is benefiting most from corruption? Yes, the politically powerful, and also the economically powerful in industry, trade and business.
AHA's solutions to corruption are moral exhortations and legal enactments. Most of the people who thronged the streets against corruption are from the middle classes who support the campaign against corruption. Laws and institutions are clearly important to the fight against corruption. AHA made it clear that it is the people and not Parliament which is supreme. The campaign, in fact, questioned the sovereignty of Parliament. For sure, the AHA jolted the political system. With the political mishandling of the situation, the government had not only lost credibility but also the trust of the people who came out on the streets to vent their anger. A weakened government had no choice but to offer some concessions to get Hazare to call off his fast. The government realized the need of a balance between the need for strong anti-corruption measures and at the same time need to not allow Parliament's authority in legislation to be undermined.
In the previous anti-corruption campaigns - the JP movement in the mid-1970s and the anti- corruption "movement" of V P Singh in the late 1980s - the mood was not only against the political class but against the Congress government. The main objective of the earlier campaigns was regime change; both catapulted the BJP to the centre stage of national politics. The RSS claimed that its cadres formed at least 10% of the AHA's mass base. This time also the RSS was presumably hoping to remove an elected government. The question is will Anna’s movement lead to BJP replacing Congress in the next poll?
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