Cong declines to disclose stand on Team Anna's invite to join fast

Congress refused to spell out its stand on Team Anna's proposal to invite leaders of all political parties to Jantar Mantar to put their views on Lokpal Bill.

“We'll cross the bridge when we come to it,” Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said when asked whether the party leaders would go if invited.

Replying to a question, she said Anna Hazare and his team were in politics but in the garb of being apolitical.

Team Anna had earlier invited leaders of all parties to Jantar Mantar on December 11, when the Gandhian plans to sit on a day-long fast, to put their views on Lokpal Bill.

The invitation to politicians is a deviation from Team Anna's stand on previous occasions when it did not allow politicians to share its platform.

A Team Anna spokesperson had earlier said formal invites were being sent to parties. The anti-corruption crusader will be sitting on a day-long protest demanding a strong Lokpal Bill.

In the past, the septuagenarian activist had said he would not invite any politician to his fast. He had said they can come and sit with protesters but cannot share dais or make speeches.

Team Anna to chalk out strategy for proposed indefinite protest

Team Anna will meet here for two days in the second week of December to chalk out its strategy for the proposed indefinite protest announced by Anna Hazare demanding a strong Lokpal Bill.

The meeting will be held on December 14 and 15 after the Gandhian holds a one-day protest in Jantar Mantar on December 11 against the “watered down” report of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal.

“We will sit and decide the mode of protest in the second week of December,” prominent Team Anna member Manish Sisodia said.

The 74-year-old activist has already announced that he will sit on an indefinite dharna from December 27 at Ramlila Maidan if Parliament does not pass a strong Lokpal Bill. Team Anna has already approached MCD and Delhi Police for permission.

Reacting to the U-turn by Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Bill, Sisodia said their protest was not limited to inclusion of Group C employees but it also covers appointment process and issue of CBI among others.

“All inspectors, including police inspectors, ration inspectors, junior engineers are covered under Group C and if they are excluded from Lokpal, what benefit a common man is going to get from Lokpal,” he said.

Referring to the formulation of Standing Committee that Lokpal will forward complaints to CBI, another team member Kiran Bedi said, “In Standing Committee report, CBI now has three bosses -- CVC, Lokpal and of course the government through Department of Personnel. Now it has 9 Lokpals too. CBI groans? Silently.”

The Committee had yesterday overturned its two key decisions within a day and favoured exclusion of group C officials from Lokpal and not to tamper with the present selection process of CBI Director despite opposition by at least 10 members.

Anna is new kid on the blog, and he is loving it

A week ago, Anna Hazare went on yet another maun vrat — his 11th to date. Yet the septuagenarian activist has probably never been more vocal. For, every morning for the past three weeks, Hazare has taken to directly talking to all interested through www.annahazaresays.wordpress.com — his blog that was launched on September 29 and that he has apparently taken enthusiastically to.

The newest kid on the blog may not know how to type or operate a computer but Hazare, say his aides, “claps his hands” every time he is shown the updated blog and the responses it has received.

“Through this blog, in a matter of moments, my thoughts reach thousands of people around the globe,” Hazare told The Indian Express, in a written response. “I am also getting their reactions. I am happy that technology is helping like-minded people come together. Had Mahatma Gandhi been alive today, I am sure he would have used this technology to reach out to the masses.”

“Anna used to get very upset every time a statement by him appeared twisted, creating controversies. Now he feels his thoughts can reach people in his own language,” said Suresh Pathare, Hazare’s personal secretary.

In fact in the first post Hazare wrote, he said: “Many a times people (even those who are close to me) make statements that do not collaborate with my thinking. Henceforth, through the medium of Internet, I will personally make sure my thoughts and views reach the people.”

While daily updates are a must, there are now many instances of two posts a day. The topics he addresses range from his Army days and the Lokpal debate to controversies of the day such as Kashmir. A recent biographical post titled ‘End of a Revolutionary’ summed up his life while in another he paid a tribute to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

New to the world of computers, Hazare has entrusted the responsibility of maintaining the blog to Raju Parulekar, a journalist, and Vijay Kuvalekar, who happens to be state information commissioner. Milind Werlekar, a software professional, looks after the technical aspects. Parulekar is helped in running the blog by a group of 13.

Hazare writes his blog posts in Marathi and translates them into Hindi himself. For the English translation, the posts are sent to Parulekar.

The aides say the activist is “extremely particular” that whatever is posted is exactly the way he has written it. “You can’t change even a single word. He decides where to put comma and where to put a hyphen. He himself edits and re-edits everything before he gives it to be keyed in, after which he again checks it before signing it,” said Pathare.

He is shown the saved webpage on a laptop as his room does not have Internet access.

“Whenever I go and show him the blog and explain to him how it works, he smiles and claps his hands with amusement,” said Parulekar.

“When I checked last, the blog had got about 64 lakh hits. Anna’s last post got 10 lakh-plus hits. We are also getting people’s comments from across the world. Annaji said that we can’t put selective comments, either put all or none. So we are moderating the comments and will soon put them all on,” said Parulekar.

“In a couple of months, the blog would be shifted to its own website,” he added. “Then it will be available in two south Indian languages and Bangla along with French and German. The blog is getting considerable hits from these places.”