The United Progressive Alliance government had faced criticism from all quarters over the detention of Anna Hazare hours before the activist was scheduled to go on an indefinite fast.
Stepping up pressure, Anna Hazare on Thursday announced a new agitation of filling up jails (jail bharo) from January 1 if Parliament does not pass a strong Lokpal law, amid indications that it is unlikely to be done before the scheduled conclusion of the current winter session.
Anna Hazare came in for scathing attack from Congress leaders who dubbed him a RSS spokesperson for his charge against Rahul Gandhi over the Lokpal issue.
Doctors attending to veteran social activist Anna Hazare in Pune have noticed significant progress in his health. Dr Mahendra Kawedia, one of the doctors attending to Hazare, said he is responding well to medical treatment. "Anna is very happy and he is responding very well. We did not conduct any new tests. On Thursday, Anna exercised on the treadmill, which is very good. He even exercised on the static cycle continuously for 15 minutes. He did not feel tired," he said.
Fresh controversy dogged Team Anna on Saturday as Anna Hazare's former blogger made public a blog, which was kept under wraps to blunt the Gandhian's claim that he had not spoken to him about re-organising his core team.
The 89-year-old, who led India to its first ever Test win, died at Vadodara following a prolonged illness.
'There was a time when a movie star could win an election just by stepping into politics. That era is over.'
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.
After two prominent activists resigned from his team after objecting to the way the campaign is being run, Anna Hazare on Wednesday hit out at his critics, saying he ignores "incoherent and illogical" discussions about his movement. Hazare said, "My movement has given rise to incoherent discussions in political circles and I do not pay heed to them". "I have heard illogical discussions and interpretations crop up due to political rivalry," he said.
Scoring a career-best 193 in the season opener against Punjab, Padikkal has been a prolific run-scorer, amassing 556 runs in six innings at an average of 92.66. His newfound consistency includes three centuries, showcasing his ability to bounce back from adversity.
Anna Hazare is likely to be present in the viewers' gallery of the Parliament when the Lokpal Bill would be tabled and discussed, sources close to him said in Mumbai on Friday.
As consensus eluded political parties on the issue of Lokpal, activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said that he has confidence in Parliament and it will pass the bill.
In an apparent softening of stand, social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said Parliament was supreme and would accept its decision if it rejects the Lokpal Bill. Hazare also showed some flexibility on the August 15 deadline he had set for passage of the Lokpal Bill by Parliament saying he was open to extending it if he found that the government was on the right path.
A day after he gave the sobriquet "new Gandhian" to Anna Hazare, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday declined to stretch the issue further.
Shiv Sena on Friday voiced its strong opposition to social activist Anna Hazare's plans to visit Pakistan in connection with anti-corruption movement.
The match played at Just Cricket ground was reduced to 34 overs per side.
Veteran social activist Anna Hazare is likely to rope in Bollywood actor Aamir Khan for the new phase of his movement, which he plans to launch in January.
Anna Hazare will not campaign in the upcoming Assembly elections, including in Uttar Pradesh, as announced earlier owing to his poor health, his close aide Kiran Bedi said on Thursday.
That the political philosophy of Anna Hazare closely resonates with the overall anti-democratic Hindutva ethos owes, in part, to the Brahminical worldview that they share, says Yogi Sikand
Anna Hazare on Friday hinted at expansion of his Core Committee as a sense of unease gripped his team over allegations of financial misconduct by some of its key members.
"Ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to contest an election," chanted thousands of supporters of activist Anna Hazare as they marched down the streets of Lucknow on Saturday. This was their reaction to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's recent statement challenging Hazare to contest the next Lok Sabha election. Their sentiments were echoed by scores of other speakers, who converged at Lucknow's Jhulelal Park that has become symbolic with Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
As Anna Hazare's campaign for a strong Lokpal Bill gathers pace in rural India, people in a non-descript village in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh have gone a step further in extending their support to him by establishing a make-shift temple, idolising the Gandhian.
Sahim Salim spoke to Muslims in the national capital to get a sense of what they think about Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign.
Hazare-led campaign has got wide publicity in the US media.
While senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said on Tuesday that Anna Hazare must be praised for the 'good work' he has done in his native village Ralegan Siddhi, he continued his tirade against the social activist's movement and Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a PIL seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged siphoning off of funds given to an NGO Hind Swaraj Trust run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and issued notices to the Centre and Maharashtra government. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai sought the governments' response on a petition filed by lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma, accusing Hazare of siphoning off of funds granted by the government.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Saturday said that he would extend all possible support to veteran social activist Anna Hazare if he initiates a protest against corruption in Uttar Pradesh. "If he (Anna Hazare) wants to hold demonstrations in any part of the country, then Uttar Pradesh would be the best place. If he holds a demonstration or fast there, then we (Congress) will also do the same in his support," he said.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday distanced himself from senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan on the issue of plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was not the team's stand and the lawyer-activist was airing his personal views.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has said that Anna Hazare is above Parliament and he has the right to do so as a citizen.
Acknowledging that he "committed violence" when he made the infamous remark "just one slap" after Sharad Pawar was attacked in Delhi last month, Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he did not consider this violence as wrong.
Refusing to comment on why he did not take a phone call of his former associate Kiran Bedi, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Wednesday said he wanted to stay away from "political dirt."
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.
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.
Their leader is now Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in several corruption cases, he added.
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy on Saturday said that he was ready to extend support to social activist Anna Hazare provided he distances himself from the "Naxalites" in his team.
The way appears to have been cleared for Anna Hazare to end his fast possibly on Friday when Parliament will discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill along with other civil society drafts on the subject after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the ice-breaking offer.
The government may have blinked first in the Anna Hazare case and permitted him to continue his fast, the real question remains to be answered: will the real issue be solved with this latest decision?
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of "playing tricks" with the people of the country, Anna Hazare on Thursday questioned the rationale behind sending two versions of the Lokpal Bill to the Cabinet for consideration.
According to sources in the government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is firmly against activist Anna Hazare's demand for formally constituting a joint committee, with representatives from the civil society and the government, to draft a strong anti-corruption bill. Hazare has been on an indefinite fast in New Delhi since Wednesday to press for his demand.Mukherjee has stopped the government from issuing a notification to make the joint committee formal.
Civil society activists led by social activist Anna Hazare on Monday boycotted the meeting of the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill saying government's intentions raised serious doubts about having a strong anti-corruption watchdog and protesting against the police crackdown on Ramdev.
