I- A(A)M (AADMI) ANNA KE SAATH

When Congress Party in 2004 came up with the slogan ‘Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath’, the suasion helped the UPA in battling the ‘India Shining’ sloganeering of then NDA government.
Seven years on, when the same ‘aam aadmi’ (now a little older) seek Congress’s support in weeding out corruption, the oldest Indian party seems fumbling with different takes every now and then.
What troubles me more is when I see some people’s reactions — in newspapers, on the social networking sites and various other platforms — when they criticise the 74-year-old anti-corruption crusader, Anna Hazare.
I understand many, by nature, are obdurate and cynical, but for me the criticism is unjustified.
Let’s be honest, at the age of 74, Hazare has no political intentions and his movement has nothing to do with earning mileage for a specific party.
His team may have amended their own bill for not less than 12 times — as said in the lower house by Sandip Dikshit — but all the changes aim to bring a strong and effective Lokpal bill.
A constitutional expert (we should not get into names here, rather accord priority to the issue) said there were several impracticalities in the bill.
I pose a question to the gentleman — Whether there were no any flaws in the constitution drafted by the genius B R Ambedkar and his team? Why has it been amended so many times?
All bills have shortcomings, but the intention of bringing a bill in the parliament and then enacting it after notification shows that we, as the world’s strongest democracy, are still committed to work for a greater cause of what’s there in the preamble of constitution.
Co-incidentally, Congress party was at the helm of affairs when the Lokpal bill was first presented in the House in 1968 and even today, when the demand of its implementation has taken the form of a mass movement.
The bill came twice — in 1998 and 2001 —during NDA’s regime as well, but no headway was made.
When on Aug 27 (on a non-working day) morning, the incumbent finance minister Pranab Mukherjee stood up in Lok Sabha at around 11am to initiate discussions on the bill, later followed by debate in both the house, it seemed the government is open to listen to ‘commoners’.
Also, watching MPs debating the nitty-gritty of the bill, my belief in parliamentary democracy gets stronger.
Ditto is the case with many, who had lost faith on people (and not the institution) who sit there. Reasons: Cash for vote scam, MPs being accused of taking money for asking questions, many with criminal cases pending against them, and the list is endless.
There could be someone like Lalu Prasad, who is finding it ‘unparliamentary’, but I do not find many takers buying his argument.
As Pranab da said, there are not more than six issues where lie the difference between Team Anna and the government.
It’s high time to reach a conclusion and draft a bill that would help the country in achieving zero-corruption (literally).
With all regards to Anna!

P.S. Mr. Prime Minister, you deserve the credit of what Indian economy is today, for standing firm on nuclear bill. If the world reels with the threat of another recession, we feel safe. But, this issue is no less important. Not anyone can come and dilute your stature by ‘lecturing’ during the zero hour of the constitution.
Sir, the entire country is looking up to you to do something akin to what you did 20 years ago.