Hungry for a Mahatma

The nation was hungry for a Mahatma. It found one in Kisan Baburao Hazare, alias Anna. The man, on his part, got into the skin of the character. As a imposing portrait of the original Mahatma loomed large behind him, he bloomed in the reflected glory. His calm, his saintly presence prevailed. He frequently quoted Mahatma the original. There wasn't a trace of doubt about the reincarnation of the Man India seemed to miss so dearly.
We are a nation of hero-worshippers. We need a deity, an idol much above the common to look up to, to guide us through the maze of the crazy times. Our political leaders failed miserably to deliver to that mark. We were desperate. Then Hazare came to rescue. He had all the making of a Mahatma. A self-proclaimed Gandhian, he captured the imagination of the nation with his crusade against corruption. He was the hero, the superman, the deity India so eagerly waited for. India embraced him with open arms.
A deity calls for unquestioned loyalty. We know that. However undemocratic his demands might have been, we never raised an eyebrow. Do hell with democracy, we want India to be corruption-free. Did he undermine the parliament? All is fair in the war against corruption, simple. Did he use plain blackmailing techniques to bring the government to knees? You know, the government didn't leave any room for anything else. Anna was justified, no matter what. He was much above us. He could never be wrong.
Can we, the people of India, who rallied behind Hazare no matter what he did, now blame Arvind Kejriwal for his debkanta-barooah-moment? For the uninitiated, Mr Barooah's only claim to fame has been the comment "Indira is India". Kejriwal gave Mr Barooah a serious competition in the race of being India's biggest sycophant. He proclaimed, Hazare is above the constitution of India. Now, there's no denying of the fact that Kejriwal has his own agenda. His political ambitions are now as clear as his stand against corruption. While almost openly supporting BJP's Chautala, who has an enviable record of corruption, in the Hisar by-election, Kejriwal said that he doesn't have any qualms in supporting a corrupt politician unless he's from the Congress.
But, leaving all these political overtones aside, if we take Kejriwal's comment on Hazare, can we blame him? Didn't we indulge the man in his every undemocratic manoeuvre? Didn't we, in effect, place him above the constitution?
We did it. Admit it.
We, driven by our hunger for a Mahatma, placed this man from Ralegan Siddhi above the constitution.
His sycophant lieutenant merely uttered those words.

Are we ashamed of ourselves? At least?

PS: Kiran Bedi, another trusted aide of the holy crusader, is reported to have inflated bills in course of getting flight fare reimbursement. She admitted, but said that she did it to raise money for her NGO.
She is, of course, an integral part of the Team Anna, fighting to have an India free of corruption!
Jai Hind.

A bit too early

As Nitish Kumar flags off the rath yatra at JP's birthplace, there is not even a trace of doubt that this is Advani's swan song. That he will have to abandon his life-long ambition of Prime Ministership was made clear from Nagpur. It took him a brief meeting with the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat to describe himself as a 'humble worker' of the party, who has been awarded with more than the prime ministership in his long political career. The message is loud and clear: the torch bearer of the BJP old guard has been announced retired hurt even before the race for prime ministership properly began.
The game is far from being over, though. The UPA has offered the ailing BJP a golden opportunity to rejuvenate. 11 Ashoka Road isn't letting it go. The very idea of an interim election, that would have sounded completely out of place even a year ago, is putting Viagra in the BJP's political barometer. And the internal race began.
Has Mr. Modi started his sprint a bit too early? His Sadbhavna fast did not last for the specified 72 hours but he managed to get the attention he badly needed. The statement is made: he's very much in the race. But will that scare away the non-hardliner voters? Mr. Modi is perceived as the man behind the Gujarat riot by most of the non-committed BJP voters. He faces some steep opposition even inside BJP and of course in NDA. Don't forget Nitish Kumar. Would the majority of Indian voters, who'd have otherwise liked to throw the UPA away, be scared to see Mr. Modi as the PM and hence shy away from voting for BJP? Can Congress ride on the anti-Modi vote consolidation?
Nagpur would not take that possibility lightly. It hasn't, either. Sushma Swaraj made it pretty clear that the party sees Modi as the successful Gujarat CM, and not as the future PM. Mohan Bhagwat hasn't uttered a word about Modi's candidature. Despite all the speculations about an interim election, there has been no announcement about the prime ministrial candidate of the party.
Signals are quite clear. As successful as he has been, the road towards the coveted position is rather difficult for Modi.
Should we count on dark horses?
Mr. Jetley wouldn't mind.