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."
Anna Hazare's fast to demand a strong Lokpal Bill entered the seventh day in New Delhi on Monday with his team asserting that they have no intention to topple the government.
Ahead of their proposed protests in New Delhi, Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev on Tuesday launched an attack on the UPA government accusing it of not showing enough resolve in tackling corruption and bringing back black money stashed away abroad.
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.
After raising questions about the way in which funds for activist Anna Hazare's agitation was managed, Swami Agnivesh on Monday claimed that the Gandhian was upset about the management of the accounts.
In another gesture of support to Team Anna, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said it will stand behind any individual or organisation taking up the fight against corruption.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Wednesday ruled out his joining politics or his movement taking a political turn.
Against the backdrop of indefinite fast by Anna Hazare coming to an end, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said the government is "much better equipped" now to deal with such situations even as he underlined that the Lokpal will be created before the 2014 elections.
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.
A poor crowd on a weekend at Team Anna's indefinite fast on Saturday did not deter Anna Hazare to threaten a fast-unto-death from Sunday on the Lokpal issue and talk about a political alternative in the 2014 elections.
Politicians, legislators and bureaucrats from Maharashtra played a major role in facilitating talks between Team Anna and the government, reports Toral Varia
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.
'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.
Former army chief V K Singh has said he supports the issues raised by Anna Hazare and Ramdev but has not yet decided on joining the anti-graft activists.
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.
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.
The Czech Republic won a heavyweight clash against the United States with a deciding doubles victory sending them through to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals in Seville.
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.
The Delhi police is understood to have sought two more days to take a decision on giving permission to social activist Anna Hazare to organise his indefinite fast against Lokpal Bill in New Delhi even as his team has secured a no-objection certificate from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to hold the protest at Ramlila Maidan.
Decrying the failure of Rajya Sabha to pass the Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare on Thursday made a curious suggestion to bring a law to empower gram sabhas that will be above Parliament.
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.
With Team Anna members coming under attack, Anna Hazare on Sunday said the core committee will be expanded but a "sharp eye" will be kept on new members so that people with only clean background are part of the movement.
Ninety-four-year-old Gandhian Shambhu Dutt, who ended his fast-unto-death demanding Lokpal bill after Team Anna's promise to shoulder the campaign, says he now regrets his decision to hand over his fight to Anna Hazare and his core committee of "yes men".
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.'
Questioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's honesty, the Anna Hazare team has raised its pitch on the Lokpal Bill demanding that its version be placed before Parliament, saying that the "weak" government draft was a "joke" played on the nation.
Rejecting contention that Lokpal proposed by it was aimed at creating a 'parallel' government, veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday said he will undertake fast-unto-death from August 16 and would not be go back on his decision even if the government makes any request.
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Monday advised Swami Agnivesh to file an FIR if he felt that the controversial video in which he purportedly asked someone to act tough with social activist Anna Hazare was fake but the religious leader said his spiritual values did not allow him to do so.
'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.
The Anna Hazare movement, which has not only gripped the nation, has also caught the fancy of the average foreign tourist.
This was Anish and Rhythm's second medal as a pair in the ISSF Shooting World Cup, after having won the gold in the 25m rapid fire pistol mixed team event at the Cairo World Cup in March this year.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on dismissed suggestions of a rift with the Anna Hazare-led team and said he has asked his supporters to join the day-long fast by the social activist and his aides in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Several groceries in the metro ran out of milk, curd, bread, and milk powder and some of them displayed "no milk, curd" boards.
'Prayed for KL to smash it to all corners, have a great World Cup and silence his critics like me.'
