Under attack over allegations of financial misconduct and demands for its disbanding, Team Anna on Sunday decided to formulate a constitution for its anti-corruption movement and revamp the core committee after that.
The Congress has launched a campaign to counter the anti-graft movement by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev and accused a section of civil society of trying to weaken democratic institutions.
As anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare began his day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, thousands of his supporters came out on to the streets across the country.
Training his guns simultaneously at social activist Anna Hazare, Bharatiya Janata Party and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday sought to pep up the morale of his party men, 135 of whom have been awarded tickets for the forthcoming 2012 election to the 403-member UP state assembly.
Gandhian Anna Hazare on Friday announced a 'jail bharo' movement across the country on April 13 after the government rejected his demands of chairmanship of the joint drafting committee being given to a civil society member and for a formal notification.
Anna Hazare on Wednesday called off his fast a day ahead of schedule and repeated his threat to campaign against Congress in the five poll-bound states for not brining a strong Lokpal.
Social activist Anna Hazare, spearheading an anti-graft movement demanding for a strong Lokpal, was on Sunday greeted with black flags by a fringe group on his arrival at the airport in Chennai.
As Anna Hazare's fast entered its seventh day on Monday, his aides alleged that efforts are being made to disrupt the movement as "certain people" are scared about the massive support enjoyed by the Gandhian.
Bowing before public pressure after Anna Hazare's arrest, the Delhi police on Wednesday withdrew virtually all pre-conditions for the hunger strike by the activist and his team in the national capital.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has admitted that the public's enthusiasm for fasts has waned, as his team continues its indefinite strike for Day 3 at Jantar Mantar demanding a strong Lokpal Bill.
Anna Hazare may be on a fast for a "strong" Lokpal, but elaborate arrangements have been made to feed his supporters during the three-day protest. Poha for snacks and puri-sabji for lunch and dinner are some of the items being dished out by some organisations which have set up base at the sprawling MMRDA ground in Mumbai, the venue of the fast."We have made arrangements to provide snacks, tea and food to 10,000 people," said Sumit Gupta from Giriraj Seva Samiti.
Arvind Kejriwal, a close aide of Anna Hazare, said on Thursday morning that it may not be possible for thr activist to launch his protest from the Ramlila Ground as the venue was full of mud and needed to be cleaned up.
Reflecting a rift within Team Anna Hazare, Justice Santosh Hegde has disapproved of the anti-Congress campaign by activist Arvind Kejriwal during the Hisar bypolls, saying it was not the right thing to do and "we jumped the gun".
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Tuesday announced in Patna that he will continue to fight for a change in the system in the country till he is alive.
The Delhi police on Tuesday refused permission to activist Anna Hazare to hold a one-day protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
Anna Hazare on Wednesday said he is going to embark on a nation wide movement against corruption from November 30 and will soon form a core committee.
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement might have aroused high sentiment in India but social activist Aruna Roy believes it lacked the ideological tethering that is required to hold mass campaigns together and was essentially driven by the mass media.
Social activist Swamy Agnivesh on Friday expressed regret about being seen as a "villain" for voicing differences on the manner in which anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare's fast was carried out in its concluding phase. "I was looked upon like a villain. This is not the first time I voiced my differences about the way the movement was carried on," said Agnivesh. But he said he would continue supporting Hazare's movement without compromising on his views.
Former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan is the only prominent Team Anna member who has donated to the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, shelling out Rs 4 lakh, in the past six months.
Anticipating that the Lokpal Bill will be tabled in Parliament, Anna Hazare has cancelled his visit to Hyderabad and will return to Delhi to be in the House.
Medha Patkar, a member of Team Anna, on Friday said there was a need for "overhauling" the group as it was facing a number of allegations and many members of the core committee were being targeted. At the same time, Patkar said she will not be attending Saturday's core committee meeting, which Anna Hazare and Justice Santosh Hegde have also decided to skip. "I don't think there is a difference of opinion," she said.
The sight of Rahul Gandhi moving around swiftly in his SUV in Lutyens' Delhi, playing a crucial role in resolving the crisis created by Anna Hazare's fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill, is a new one for many Congress leaders. After returning from the United States, where his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is under treatment for an undisclosed ailment, Gandhi has been working behind-the-scene. He has been working round-the-clock to break the deadlock over Hazare's fast.
Anna Hazare on Tuesday stuck to his August 30 deadline for passage of Jan Lokpal Bill and asked his supporters to intensify the protest by gheraoing the houses of Parliamentarians if government failed to do so.
Attacking the government for keeping the Central Bureau of Investigation out of Lokpal, Anna Hazare on Wednesday accused it of "cheating" the people by bringing a weak Bill to "save" corrupt politicians.
The letters by Hazare and Gandhi were released by the All India Congress Committee on Tuesday, on a day the Bill was slated to come up for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha.
Claiming that a "straight-forward and simple" man like Anna Hazare was surrounded by politically ambitious people, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Sunday launched an attack on Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, saying they need to look inwards instead of just terming politicians as criminals.
The government should accommodate Anna's suggestions on the Lokpal Bill, says Ram Madhav.
The Maharashtra government has decided to persuade social activist Anna Hazare to continue with the 'Z' ategory security cover offered to him after he appeared reluctant to the idea.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who has so far maintained silence on his meeting with Anna Hazare over a month ago, on Friday lamented that nothing could come out of the talks.
Two days ahead of Anna Hazare's fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, his team today stepped up attack on government questioning the "credibility" of the Standing Committee report on the issue saying it has only the support of 12 members.
Anna Hazare on Sunday joined his three close aides in their indefinite fast while his team attacked yoga guru Ramdev for sharing dais with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, describing the Bharatiya Janata Party leader as a "murderer of humanity".
"I am not the biggest hero, Anna (Hazare) is the real hero," said superstar Aamir Khan on Saturday as he pledged support to the activist's fight for a strong anti-corruption law.
Differences between Team Anna and Aam Aadmi Party came to the fore on Friday when its leader Gopal Rai tried to interrupt General V K Singh's speech at the venue and was rebuffed by Anna Hazare who has been on indefinite hunger strike for passage in Parliament of Jan Lokpal Bill.
Congress leader Dijvijay Singh on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to the defence of Arvind Kejriwal in the controversy surrounding the transfer of money to his non-government organisation was proof enough of the alliance between Team Anna and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP.
Team Anna's core committee met in Monday at Ghaziabad amidst suggestions that the anti-corruption movement should not target a single political party in the future.
Social activist Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death entered the third day on Thursday even as a large number of people from various walks of life continued to extend support to the crusader for a stronger anti-corruption law.
Leader of opposition in Bihar Abdul Bari Siddiqui today suggested Anna Hazare and his aides to launch a movement against corruption from the state.
Hazare, after his usual visit to Rajghat before any such protest in Delhi, came to the capital's dharna hotspot Jantar Mantar at around 11 am to loud cheers from tricolour-wielding anti-corruption supporters and chants of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. He is fasting to demand justice for slain IPS officer Narendra Kumar, murdered allegedly by mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh, and a strong law to protect whistleblowers.
Contending that communalism was a bigger a threat to India than corruption, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, on Monday asked Anna Hazare why he and his campaign managers did not do more to involve Muslims in their anti-graft movement.
Anna Hazare was on Sunday admitted to the Medanta Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon for a check-up soon after he ended his 12-day fast on the Lokpal issue and doctors said he will be under strict observation though there was no reason for worry.
