Some of the prominent United Progressive Alliance ministers on Sunday came under fire from Team Anna at the fast venue of Anna Hazare with the activist's close aide Arvind Kejriwal claiming that cases could have been registered against 14 ministers if there was a Lokpal.
Bollywood veteran actor Anupam Kher visited Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to express his support to Team Anna and passage of Jan Lokpal Bill. Toral Varia Deshpande speaks to Anupam Kher.
Against the backdrop of the allegations that Anna Hazare has links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Arvind Kejriwal, a key Team Anna member on Monday met representatives of Muslim organisations to clear the 'misconceptions'.
Team Anna on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the exclusion of lower bureaucracy and the Criminal Bureau of Investigation's probe wing from under the Lokpal's purview in the draft report of Parliamentary Standing Committee, but opposed bringing private NGOs and the media under its ambit. Reacting to the panel's draft report, activist Arvind Kejriwal sought to remind the government of the Parliamentary resolution that led to Anna Hazare ending his fast on August 28.
Expressing dismay over the government's stand over the Lokpal Bill, former Indian Police Service officer and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said, "Who do we talk to? Usually talks happen with those who can decide something. Who do we talk to in this country? This is the big question."
Yoga guru Ramdev, who along with his supporters faced police crackdown during their agitation at Ramlila Maidan, on Monday, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to exercise "self restraint" and ensure that similar action was not taken against Anna Hazare and his team.
Team Anna on Monday asked the Congress to make public expenses incurred for hiring choppers for the just-concluded assembly elections to five states, particularly for party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul. Anna Hazare and his close aide Arvind Kejriwal demanded that the expenses should be made public.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said their fight for a strong Jan Lokpal Bill was in the decisive stage and advocated the path of non-violence for achieving the objective.
Activist Kiran Bedi on Friday said Team Anna members felt "let down" by Rahul Gandhi's lack of support for the anti-corruption movement as they thought that he would work with them to ensure that the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed in Parliament.
You cannot fight a defiant person by being defiant in politics. This is a lesson the prime minister and his team have to learn if they want to remain in power, says Aslam Hunani.
Targeting the political class, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress of misusing the Central Bureau of Investigation while in power. He also took on Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee for not being vocal about Lokpal like she was on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday contended that the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations on Lokpal Bill will only help in making the ombdusman an "Enquiry Pal" with no powers at all. Bedi said Anna Hazare and his supporters did not fight for such an anti-corruption watchdog.
Slamming the central government over various scams, veteran social activist Anna Hazare's key aide Arvind Kejriwal has said that the Centre plays politics of power, corruption, and crime whereas they are fighting for truth, and honesty.
Interestingly, his sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra was present in the Speaker's gallery to watch her brother speak on the issue of corruption and Hazare's agitation. Priyanka has just returned from New York where their mother Sonia Gandhi is recuperating after surgery.
As droves of people flocked to Ramlila Maidan to voice their support for Anna Hazare, lack of water and sanitation facilities at the venue tested the resolve of quite a few supporters.
Delhi Water Minister Atishi ended her indefinite fast over the water scarcity in the national capital after she was hospitalised early Tuesday, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
'We are confused because the UPA government has cheated us. The question before us is, should we request the people to not vote for the UPA or should we not? Shall we not hit the streets again at all? There are many options before us. Each option has many implications for our movement,' Arvind Kejriwal confesses to Sheela Bhatt.
Rediff.com reporters spoke to employees of the lower bureaucracy to know what they think of all the commotion surrounding their inclusion in the Lokpal bill.
As Parliamentary Standing Committee went back on some of its recommendations on Lokpal Bill, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday night slammed it as an effort to make the ombdusman an "enquiry-pal" and said it confirms her remarks that politicians wear several masks.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Monday that the Union government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in the retail sector is linked to corruption.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Wednesday asked as to what was stopping ruling Congress from declaring its resolve to create an effective Lokpal through a special session of Parliament or an ordinance in case Parliament by any chance is stalled.
Arvind Kejriwal, who has alleged that phones of Team Anna members are being tapped, on Sunday demanded that the government answer whether it considered them as a threat to national security.
Arvind Kerjriwal, the leader Team Anna, explains his motivations and his methods in a fascinating interview with Sheela Bhatt.
Arvind Kerjriwal, the leader Team Anna, explains his motivations and his methods in a fascinating interview with Sheela Bhatt.
Taking on a section of political class that questioned the need for civil society to contribute in law making, Team Anna member N Santosh Hegde on Friday sought annual auditing of Parliamentarians to assess their performance.
In an interview with rediff.com's Sahim Salim social activist Medha Patkar said that Team Anna expected a deadlock between the Congress and BJP when the BJP took a stance on the matter.
Team Anna member and former Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde on Tuesday appealed to Anna Hazare to end his eight-day fast, saying everyone is "honestly" concerned about his health.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Sunday said the Lokpal, if made a law, will create fear among wrongdoers like the way the "chopping of hands of thieves" does in UAE. Addressing protesters at the fast venue of Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev, Bedi also asked people not to vote for those politicians who are opposed to Lokpal in the next elections.
Even as the media continued to dig the dirt on members of Team Anna (with a little help from politicians and political parties) Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in her reply to Anna Hazare has assured him that she does not 'support or encourage the politics of smear campaigns.'
Accusing the government of cheating people on the Lokpal issue, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Sunday claimed that it was not willing to part with control over the Central Bureau of Investigation, as it did not want the "hidden files in the agency's almirahs" to become public.
'A system that is judge, jury, and executioner, with draconian and apparently ill-defined powers and a haphazard system of oversight is not necessarily a better denouement, even if the current situation is untenable,' says Ram Kelkar.
Union minister and a key member of the Lokpal bill drafting committee Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that Team Hazare's version of the legislation was unacceptable, as some of its provisions were against the basic tenets of the Constitution.
'A defeat in the Hisar by-election would not make any difference to the numbers in the Lok Sabha for the simple reason that the Congress had not won that seat in 2009 anyhow. But alienating the Trinamool Congress (19 Lok Sabha MPs), the DMK (18 Lok Sabha MPs), and the Nationalist Congress Party (nine Lok Sabha MPs in addition to all the MLAs in Maharashtra) is another story. Those 46 MPs are crucial to the survival of the Manmohan Singh ministry.'
Delhi was put on heightened vigil on Wednesday night with deployment of armed police personnel across the city in the wake of the bomb blasts in Pune.
'There was a time when a movie star could win an election just by stepping into politics. That era is over.'
Anna Hazare and his team may not have managed to see introduction of their version of Lokpal Bill in Parliament, but an Independent MP on Monday submitted in Rajya Sabha a Private Member's Jan Lokpal Bill aimed at checking corruption.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid also made it clear that there was no question about anyone from the government ever saying that they don't care what happens to Hazare's health. "The main concern for me and the prime minister is Anna's health. We are very concerned about it," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Differing with Anna Hazare on the amended Lokpal Bill approved by the Union Cabinet, his team member and former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi on Friday backed the legislation saying it addresses most of their concerns.
"It is the job of Parliament to legislate. We (government) had several rounds of discussion with him (Anna Hazare) and his team. We know their viewpoints. About nine rounds of meetings have already been held with them. Thereafter also, through interlocutors some discussions also took place with them," Mukherjee told media persons at his south Kolkata residence.
Four metro stations near the prime minister's official residence here were closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure following a call by Team Anna Hazare to people to hold a protest there.
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