In a climate of ‘political U-turns’, the Congress on Wednesday joined the bandwagon by warming to anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare and acknowledging that the party’s ongoing agitation against the land ordinance would be strengthened if he backed it.
Party spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the Congress was happy to learn that Anna Hazare was planning an agitation against the ordinance but was non-committal on a joint campaign. “Let him first detail the contours of his agitation,” he said, laughing off suggestions that the Congress was hitching its wagon to the Gandhian whose campaign against corruption is seen as the beginning of the downfall of the UPA.
“The Congress is in agitation mode, and we have already begun our Sansad se Sadak [Parliament to the streets] agitation… Many farmers’ organisations have joined the campaign and are also organising themselves. All we are saying is that this movement will get more resonance if Anna Hazare lends his voice to it and will help mount pressure on the government,” he said.
Lamenting the manner in which Anna Hazare’s two protégés — Delhi chief ministerial candidates Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi — had “dumped” the Gandhian in pursuit of power, Mr. Surjewala said the two had turned his India Against Corruption (IAC) into “Individual Aspiration for Chief Ministers.”
“Both used his movement to build their public profiles and then plunged into politics after stating that they would never become politicians.”
