Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy's remarks that Mahatma Gandhi would have turned corrupt in the present day politics on Monday drew sharp reaction from leaders including Gandhian Anna Hazare, who wondered how the country could eliminate corruption if leaders talk like this.
In remarks that could stoke a fresh controversy, Gandhian Anna Hazare on Tuesday night said a person is left with no option other than going for a slap when his power of tolerance of corruption runs out.
A court in Pune has discharged social activist Anna Hazare in a case of alleged misappropriation of funds in the Hind Swaraj Trust, headed by him.
Lashing out at the government for criticising civil society activists, Gandhian Anna Hazare on Saturday vowed to continue with the proposed August 16 agitation despite "threats" to "crush" it, saying he was willing "to face bullets and not just lathis.
'I am sick of hearing the prime minister parrot the 'compulsions of coalition government' line, says Vipin Vijayan. 'I for once hope he says, "This is what I will do. You have a problem, go hang!"'
'While they claim to cherish Bapu's ideals, they cherish Godse as fervently.'
A meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Anna Hazare is expected soon despite differences between Congress and the civil society over the issue of Lokpal Bill. An indication to this effect was given by a senior party leader who declined to be identified.
After the so called flop show in Mumbai, if one thought that the Anna movement was on the wane, one needs to be careful. In fact Anna Hazare remains top recall in people's mind and irrespective of what happened in Mumbai, they still believe the Gandhian is right and his Lokpal will successfully combat corruption.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday made conditional allowing yoga guru Ramdev to join his proposed indefinite fast on Lokpal issue from August 16.
Contrary to Anna Hazare team's description of government's Lokpal Bill draft as a "very big hoax", Swami Agnivesh, an associate of the Gandhian's anti-graft campaign, on Friday termed the latest draft as an "improvement" of its 2010 draft.
The Rashtriya Shala in Rajkot, Gujarat, has fallen prey to greed, the apathy of local politicians and the Gujarat government's indifference.
In a veiled warning to Anna Hazare for his proposed fast, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday indicated that the Gandhian might be meted out the same treatment, depending upon the prevailing situation at that time, as yoga guru Ramdev was given at Ramlila ground.
The Gujarat government has directed seven district collectors to ensure that the identity of each and every person coming for the road show and the Namaste Trump event is verified thoroughly.
In a stepped-up attack on Anna Hazare and the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Congress on Monday dubbed the Gandhian as an "unelected dictator" who is reading the script of forces attempting to destabilise the country".
In the absence of a bhoodan (gifting land to the landless) act, bhoodan land has become disputed in many regions of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
A core member of Team Anna and expert of food security, Devinder Sharma, told rediff.com that there is a debate going on within Team Anna whether the Gandhian should hold his proposed fast to press for a stringent Lokpal Bill from December 27 in Mumbai.
Manish Tewari's public expression of regret for his outburst against Anna Hazare has failed to cut much ice with the anti-corruption crusader, who Thursday sent a legal notice to the Congress spokesman seeking a written apology for calling him corrupt from "head to toe".
Asking the government to give up its "vindictive" attitude, the Gandhian said it "must try to create trust and bridge the gap in the hearts after the nation-wide agitation for Jan Lokpal Bill instead of sending out a wrong messege."
After an overwhelming reception on his homecoming in Ralegan Siddhi here, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said he was recovering fast.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was accorded a hero's welcome when he arrived at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district with supporters staying awake till late in the night to receive him.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has been urged to support the demand for repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 by Manipuri social activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on an indefinite fast on the issue for nearly 11 years now.
Till corruption is removed from the country, people would not get their true freedom, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare said in Guwahati on Friday.
Swami Agnivesh, a close associate of Anna Hazare, was the target of the core Anna team which attacked him over a controversial video posted on Youtube where he is purportedly telling a person alleged to be a Union minister that government act tough with the fasting Gandhian.
Immediately after Parliament agreed to Anna Hazare's three key demands on Lokpal Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday sent him a letter conveying the same and urged the Gandhian to give up his 12-day fast. "As you know, Parliament today discussed Lokpal related issues. You will be happy to know that both Houses of Parliament have passed a resolution on the three points raised by you," Dr Singh said in the letter which was handed over to Hazare.
The prime minister has to blame himself because he refused to make up with Anna Hazare when the social activist from Maharashtra was willing to meet him more than half way, says Kuldip Nayar.
The anti-corruption protest of activist Anna Hazare on Friday had a supporter in Suhail Hindustani, a key accused in 2008 cash-for-vote scam, who appeared in a Delhi court wearing a Gandhian cap written Mai Anna Hoon on it.
Anger against peoples' representatives was in full display at the Ramlila Maidan on Friday when Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Gopinath Munde and Ananth Kumar had to abruptly leave the ground after being greeted with cries of chor chor from the crowd.
On the tenth day of Anna Hazare's fast, Lok Sabha on Thursday unanimously appealed to him to end his hunger strike as his life was "much too precious", with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying he has "registered his point" and that Jan Lokpal would be considered by Parliament.
Rediff.com's Toral Varia, who has been covering Anna Hazare's fast at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, spoke to prominent civil society member Swami Agnivesh on the way ahead for the team Anna.
There seems to be a split within Team Anna over whether or not the Gandhian should continue his fast in the backdrop of his deteriorating health.
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.
The Tamil superstar called Hazare's movement a 'bloodless revolution.'
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.
At about 2 pm on August 20, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare completed 100 hours of his indefinite fast. The 74-year-old Gandhian chose the moment to address the mammoth crowd gathered at the Ramlila Ground who had come from different parts of the country to express their support for Anna Hazare's cause.
Did Team Anna steal the limelight from 94-year-old Shambhu Dutt with their fight against corruption?
Annasaheb, I have known of your good work in Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra for the past 30 years. Most Maharashtrians know you well, but this generation of youth has not been fed much information of 'good works' by the media.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has driven Indian government into a political corner, the US media has said, but a leading paper feels that the methods being used by the social activist are a recipe for 'anarchy.'
A chastised Aiyar did proffer a conditional apology, but that did not apparently smooth the ruffled feathers of the troubled Congress leadership.
Civil society activist Kiran Bedi, in a tweet early morning on Thursday said that social activist Anna Hazare has accepted the Delhi police offer of a two-week fast at Ramlila Maidan.
Holding that Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement has an element of "populism" about it, Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson Tushar has said there is a difference in the way the two leaders have used fasting as an instrument of protest. He also feels that while for the Mahatma, fasting was a means to "reform an adversary", in case of Hazare, a self-professed Gandhian, it was like targeting an "enemy". "Hazare's fast is different because Bapu's fast was to reform an adversary".
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