Manish Tewari expresses regret to Hazare

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari Thursday expressed regret to Anna Hazare over his comments slamming the social activist for alleged corruption. "In political discourse, certain things get said which inadvertently cause hurt, anguish and pain," Tewari told reporters outside parliament.

"I know some of my recent utterances have caused hurt to Anna Hazare. To him I would like to say that I regret the same," the Congress leader said.

He said he was personally concerned about Hazare's health and would like to appeal to him to end his fast. "In democracy, there is always room for discourse."

Tewari had attacked Hazare Aug 14 on the basis of Justice P.B. Sawant Commission report and accused him of being involved in corruption from "head to toe".

The remarks had drawn veiled criticism from his own party people.

Tewari's remarks Thursday came soon after the Lok Sabha appealed to Hazare to end his fast.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in the house earlier that he saluted the social activist, respected his idealism and his life was "too precious".

Urging Hazare to end his fast, the prime minister said the activist had emerged as an embodiment of people's disgust against corruption.

Has Congress lost the ability to fight a crisis?

You cannot fight a defiant person by being defiant in politics. This is a lesson the prime minister and his team have to learn if they want to remain in power, says Aslam Hunani.

At this moment there is a stalemate on the talks between the government and Team Anna.

It is worth noting that the Congress took it upon itself to fight Anna Hazare's campaign on an issue which actually relates to the entire Parliament, and realised their folly late on Wednesday.

The result of the all-party meet called by the prime minister on Wednesday gave enough fodder to the government to take on Team Anna and has resulted in a slight weakening of the morale of Anna's supporters in the ongoing tussle. The result of the all-party meet conveyed to Team Anna that there are no takers for their Jan Lokpal bill.

What is now more important is, how the logjam between the two parties can be resolved and the talks carried forward for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis.

On one side there is the defiant Hazare who has nothing to lose and has no political ambitions. He has become the darling of the media and is drawing people in large numbers. On the other hand, is a defiant prime minister with a history of addressing problems only when they have blown out of proportion.

The most important point is, why did the Congress or rather the prime minister take so long to convene the all-party meet? Why did the government not begin negotiations with Anna from day one when he began his fast at Ramlila ground? Was the PM of the view that the crisis would get solved on its own, that Anna would break his fast without any negotiations and all would end well?

The Lokpal Bill is going to affect all MPs whether they be of ruling or Opposition parties, so why was the Congress trying to fight the battle with Anna all by itself? If the crisis managers of the Congress had decided to call the all-party meet at the start of the problem and taken everyone into confidence regarding the bill, it would have at least ensured them the support of the Opposition in tacking the problem. Rather, they tried to play hard ball with Anna Hazare and now have no major option left before them.

Had the all-party meet been called earlier, the country would have known the stand of the Opposition NDA vis a vis the Jan Lokpal bill. This would have put the Opposition in a bind and they would have not openly supported Anna.

Now the crisis has acquired enormous magnitude for the Congress. You cannot fight a defiant person by being defiant in politics. This is a lesson the PM and his team have to learn if they want to remain in power.

Narendra Modi tweets concern for Anna

Chief minister Narendra Modi has finally broken his silence in relation to the anti-corruption stir of veteran Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare.

The tech-savvy CM tweeted late on Tuesday night expressing concern about Anna’s health and also appealed to citizens to take part in prayers organised by the state unit of BJP for Anna's health.

In a tweet at around 11 pm on Tuesday, Modi accused the Congress of using anti-democratic means to wipe out Hazare’s anti-corruption movement:

“Nation is concerned about Anna’s health. Congress talks of democracy and parliament but uses anti-democratic means to wipe out Anna’s movement, he wrote.”

Later, in another tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Modi requested his followers to take part in prayers organised for Anna’s health.

"Maha Arti in villages of Gujarat for Anna's good health & long life by Gujarat BJP. Join Guj when it prays for Anna's health this evening," he tweeted.

Incidentally, this is the first time that Modi has commented about Anna and his campaign ever since the crusader’s arrest and indefinite fast from August 16.

Modi has close to three lakh followers on twitter, and he regularly uses the short messaging site to reach out to the people.

In another tweet around the same time, the CM requested fellow tweeples (which stands for twitter people) to expose each of the undemocratic means used to curb Anna's movement through tweets.

Many of Modi's twitter followers responded to the call and made comments about how the Congress had tried to use force to curb Anna's campaign, but had failed miserably.

Modi, who likes to project himself as incorruptible, had surprisingly remained silent about Anna Hazare and his crusade.

In fact, he had last mentioned about it on August 15 when he accused the Congress of disgusting double standards for calling Anna corrupt while describing A Raja and Sheila Dikshit as non-corrupt.

Interestingly, Anna Hazare, during a visit to Ahmedabad on May 26, had said: "Yahan pe to ghotala hi ghotala hai (here everything smacks of corruption)." There was no reaction to Anna's comments either from Modi or the state government.

More support for Anna Hazare

The latest celebrity to join those supporting activist Anna Hazare’s anti-graft campaign is Rajinikanth. The South superstar voiced his support on Tuesday, saying, “Anna is my hero.” In an email sent to India Against Corruption, he wrote, “There can be no doubt that corruption is a dreaded disease that needs to be weeded from the Indian society.”

On Monday, actor John Abraham, too, showed his support by breaking a dahi handi named ‘Anti Corruption Handi’ with his forehead, on the occasion on Janmashtami, which sees the ‘matki phod’ sport every year. “I am with Anna. All chors should be thrown out,” he said at the Mumbai event.

Father-daughter duo Kabir and Pooja Bedi, along with singer Kailash Kher,  turned up at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Monday. Kher performed a song — Ambar tak yahee naad goonjega —  meant to demand that the government take the civil society’s views on the Lokpal Bill more seriously. He had composed it when Hazare had first undertaken a fast in April this year.

— Agencies

This one’s for you
Band of Boys dedicate song in support of Anna

While the Band of Boys have stood up for a lot of things in their lives, this time they're happy to stand up for something that makes them proud to be Indian and part of a movement that will hopefully change the face of modern India.

“Today we stand for self- belief and change. Today we stand to show them that we're not going to take this sitting down anymore. Today we stand for what the real people of our country stands for. Freedom from corruption and a ‘chalta hai’ (it’s okay) attitude,” reads a statement by the band members.

It adds that other than holding on to values and resolving to stand strong through the tumultuous waves of corruption that sweeps this nation, they thought it is best to resort to the old adage that 'music soothes the savage beast'. Thus they have come up with a song inspired from the movie, Main Azaad Hoon and have offered it to Anna, hoping to inspire the entire country and make it a force to reckon with!

Song on anti-corruption in new film


Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Anand Tiwari and Sadia Siddique shot an anti-corruption video for their forthcoming film, directed by Praveen Kumar.

The film, Jo Dooba So Paar – Its Love in Bihar, has a song on the anti-corruption theme and the director thought it will be a good idea to shoot for a promotional video with the song.

Coincidently, the song talks about what is happening in today’s society and supports Anna Hazare’s movement in a nice way with lines like: Sub chor uchhake baba ban gaye, dhan barse tamam, tu  not lele, vote dede aur bhool ja bhola ram, Danke ki chot par loot ho rahi, galat salat sab kam andey garam garam, andey garam garam!

Says director Praveen, “Kesu, played by Anand Tiwari, is a fearless and youthful character growing up in a corrupt world as depicted as in the song.

The song sung by Raghubir Yadav may have a strong connect with the Anna Hazare movement, but that is incidental." The film, as the name suggests, is set in Bihar and is a love story about a boy Kishu who falls in love with a foreigner Sapna, who has come to India to do some research on Indian culture.

But while Kishu tries to explore this romance, things change and  what happens then is the story of the film. Jo Dooba So Paar – Its Love In Bihar is slated to release on October 14, 2011.

Govt reaches out: Deshmukh meets Hazare with PM's message

Senior Maharashtra leader and Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday met social activist Anna Hazare with Prime Minsiter's fresh proposal and appeal. "I met Anna Hazare to request him to end fast following the appeal by Parliament and the Prime Minister," said Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Reports say that Anna has demanded immediate discussion in Parliament on three contentious issues raised by his team. The three issues are appointment of state Lokayuktas, adopting a citizens' charter and including lower bureaucracy under the ambit of Lokpal Bill.

Meanwhile, Team Anna is meeting to discuss Prime Minister's offer to debate all forms of bill draft in Parliament.

Earlier, the Lok Sabha unanimously made an appeal to Anna Hazare to end his fast, finance minister and government interlocuter Pranab Mukherjee hoped that the social activist will listen to this message.

"It is good news that Parliament unanimously appealed to Anna Hazare to break his fast. I do hope that in response to the Prime Minister's appeal and the appeal of the whole House, Shri Anna Hazare will end his fast," Pranab Mukherjee said outside Parliament.

He said: "the Prime Minister has also proposed that the Jan Lokpal Bill alongwith others may be discussed, of course, as per provisions and within the framework and procedures of Parliament. Members of Parliament will have the opportunity of discussing their views on various bills."

He said members can now have discussions on the Jan Lokpal Bill and that proposed by activist Aruna Roy, besides of the Government, in Parliament.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has been engaged in dialogue with Team Anna for ending the social activist's fast and resolving the Lokpal logjam.

Anna sticks to his demands, PM calls meeting

New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government on Thursday reached out directly to Anna Hazare with Union Science and Technology Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh meeting him with a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Deshmukh met Hazare just a few hours after sources told CNN-IBN that the 74-year-old anti-corruption crusader wanted to negotiate directly with the Government and talk to a leader from Maharashtra.
"A lot of people from Maharashtra have met me and asked me to request Annaji to end his fast. I went to meet Anna to inquire his health and requested him to end fast following the appeal by Parliament and the Prime Minister. So I went there," said Deshmukh when asked about his meeting with Hazare.
Hazare's close associate Manish Sisodia said that he (Hazare) has sent his reply to the Prime Minister's message.
"Vilasrao Deshmukh met Anna Hazare with a message from the Prime Minister. Annaji has replied and it has been sent to the Prime Minister. When the reply from the Prime Minister comes, Anna will address you and," Sisodia told the crowd at Ramlila Maidan.
Sources say that in his reply Hazare has stuck to his demands for inclusion of lower bureaucracy, lokayukta in all states through the same legislation and immediate discussion on Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.
Sources add that Deshmukh told Hazare that entire Parliament has given him the assurance and requested him to end his fast but he (Hazare) is adamant on a written assurance.
The Prime Minister has also called a meeting of senior ministers at 6 PM at his 7 Race Course Road to discuss Anna Hazare's fast and the Lokpal issue. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is leading the Government team in negotiations with Team Anna, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony, Law Minister Salman Khurshid will be attending the meeting.
Hazare is reportedly ready to negotiate directly with the Government to end the deadlock over the Lokpal issue. His associates from Maharashtra told CNN-IBN that Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi are proving to be main hurdles to talks.
The associates, who have worked with Hazare for many years, say that the Government has agreed to almost 80 per cent of his demands and this is the right time to talks directly with the Government.
There is also a feeling that Kiran Bedi's tweets are creating confusion.
A group of Hazare supporters have also expressed their concern over his falling health and feel that the fast and agitation cannot be continued for an indefinite period of time. Hazare's fast entered its 10th day on August 25 and he has almost 6.5 kg.
Sources say that the crisis can be resolved if any credible political leader speaks to Hazare. He is reportedly ready to talk to any leader from Maharashtra, including Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Social workers from Maharashtra who have been involved in many agitations launched by Hazare say that he wants a strong Lokpal Bill and assurances by the Government on the entire process related to the Bill. He wants a political solution to the anti-corruption agitation and is ready to negotiate with a leader like Chavan who has a clean record.
Sources say that Hazare is willing to consider breaking his fast or at least go on drip if there is a political assurance. However, he wants the clause by clause talks to go on with his associates who are more familiar with the details.
Meanwhile, Team Anna's core committee is meeting to decide its strategy after the Prime Minister applauded Anna Hazare and the Lok Sabha appealed to him to end his 10-day-old fast.
Earlier, the Prime Minister requested Hazare to end his fast while addressing the Lok Sabha and said that Parliament will pass a strong Lokpal Bill.
"I applaud Anna, I salute Anna. I would urge Anna to end this fast. I request all to request Anna that his point has been registered and we will take note of it," said the Prime Minister.
Giving due respect to Anna Hazare's cause, Manmohan Singh said, "I want Jan Lokpal Bill to be given due consideration by the Parliamentary Standing Committee".
"We will find effective ways and means to discuss Jan Lokpal Bill along with the Government's version of the Bill, along with Aruna Roy's and Jayaprakash Narayan's. All ideas should be discussed and debated to get best possible bill to help us deal with corruption," Singh said.