It has been a year since anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare stepped into Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in what was the biggest attempt to bring corruption to the limelight.
With his fasts and struggle for strong anti-graft laws, in the form of the Jan Lokpal Bill, he became a household name in the country.
On Thursday, a year later, Mr. Hazare was resolved to be back in the capital, on the Ramlila Maidan, to fight for the Bill that has not yet been passed by the government.
“We will wait till May and see if they pass the Lokpal Bill. Otherwise, the andolan will start again. I will tour the entire country and make people aware of the level of corruption and the need for a strong Lokpal,” Mr. Hazare told journalists at Ralegan Siddhi.
Though the year symbolised mobilisation nationwide, Mr. Hazare's anti- corruption movement was marked by a rather tumultuous relationship with those in power. He ended a four-day fast on April 9 last year, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised that the Lokpal Bill would be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. Again, he launched a fast, this time for 13 days, in August on the Ramlila Maidan, which ended with a ‘sense of the House resolution' from Parliament, which accepted key elements in the Jan Lokpal Bill. But Parliament failed to pass the Bill in the winter session.
As for the future course of his movement, Mr. Hazare marked the 2014 elections as the next target. “We have one-and-a-half years to go till the elections… We will keep spreading awareness till then. When the polls are announced, we will be back at Ramlila. Then, the slogan will be Lokpal lao ya jao (Get Lokpal or go).”
