Anna Hazare’s half-victory is actually a win-win for all

It’s a half-victory, Anna Hazare said, when Cabinet Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh read out the Prime Minister’s message to Anna conveying Parliament’s Sense of the House statement. He will break his fast at 10 am on Sunday. But the real victory lies in the fact that neither civil society nor parliamentary democracy lost in the end. India won, and its people won.

But the real victory lies in the fact that neither civil society nor parliamentary democracy lost in the end. Reuters
Team Anna’s ability to mobilise large sections of civil society made our parliamentarians behave. For the first time in recent memory, all our political parties stuck to the essence of debate. Political points were scored – by Sushma Swaraj, by Lalu Yadav, Sharad Yadav, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, among others – but all within the normal range of cut-and-thrust repartee.

Civil society –which at one point looked like running roughshod over parliament’s rights and powers – was kept in its place by legislators and other members of civil society. Towards the end, when some members of Team Anna went over the top with their caricaturing of politicians and intemperate language, they got it back in spades when speakers gave them a tongue-lashing in both houses.

The antics of Kiran Bedi at Ramlila grounds, and some of the nasty references to politicians made by Team Anna came in for tough criticism, with Sharad Yadav, Janata Dal (U) leader, tearing into them. “We respect the issues behind Anna’s fast,” he said, but warned Team Anna to treat politicians with respect.

“They should use respectable language,” Yadav warned. On Friday, Ramlila grounds saw members of civil society referring to politicians as “anpad” and “ganwaar” (uneducated and simpleminded) who hid behind “ghunghats” (veils) in front of the people.

Saturday was the day politicians redeemed themselves – but they should thank Team Anna for giving them the opportunity to do so.

The day started off with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee summarising the run-up to Anna’s first fast at Jantar Mantar in April, which led to the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, the rupture with Team Anna, and the final fast that began after Independence Day.

The first note of political thrust came with Sushma Swaraj, who, in an otherwise brilliant speech, took sideswipes at both Rahul Gandhi’s Friday speech, and the PM’s helplessness in controlling events.

But Swaraj got her own comeuppance from the youth brigade. Jyotiraditya Scindia took up cudgels on behalf of Rahul and tore into Swaraj. An upset Swaraj seemed about leave the house but Scindia requested her to stay.

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