The Bharatiya Janata Party has termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal for a consensus on a Lokpal Bill “hollow” and announced a nationwide agitation to intensify the protest against corruption from August 25.
With the Left-led group of parties announcing their plan for a nationwide protest for August 23, the earlier suggestion of a coordinated opposition action by Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav has not materialised. On Saturday, he said some parties felt “the time for coordinated action between the BJP-led opposition and the Left-led group has not yet arrived.”
Chalking out strategy
General secretaries of the BJP and some office-bearers, who were in town, met here, even as the party's brass conferred with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leadership in Ujjain to work out a strategy to deepen the anti-government mood.
After the Ujjain meeting, RSS general secretary Suresh Joshi issued a statement, appreciating the “massive public support” to various campaigns by the RSS fronts such as the Youth Against Corruption run by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the Bharat Swabhiman Trust “under the tutelage of Swami Ramdev.”
He further said ‘swayamsevaks' were “actively associating themselves with all other efforts to fight corruption [that is, Team Anna's campaign] and will continue to fight against corruption.” Finally, Mr. Joshi said it was important for “all these movements” to “channelise their energy and work in synergy.”
In fact, those close to the RSS indicated that this had happened, but now an official message, asking all RSS organisations to work with and for Mr. Hazare's campaign, was sent out.
Just three days ago, senior leader L.K. Advani gave his party's game away when he publicly said the issue was no longer about an effective Lokpal Bill but about getting rid of the Manmohan Singh government “which had lost the mandate.”
A few months ago, before Team Anna descended on the capital — before Mr, Hazare's fast at Jantar Mantar — Mr. Advani had lamented that while the government's stock was low and people were discontented, the fact was “there is no J.P. [Jayaprakash Narayan],” unlike in 1975, to help coalesce a joint Opposition. A few months later, Mr. Hazare was presented to the country not as J.P. 2 but as Mahatma Gandhi 2, sitting against the backdrop of the favourite RSS pictorial depiction of ‘Bharat Mata' and the crowds chanting ‘Vande Mataram.'
On Saturday, the BJP said the Youth Against Corruption has been asked to mobilise an additional 10 lakh youths. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anurag Thakur has been given this task. The anti-corruption mood is to be taken down to the district and village levels.
In Ujjain, it is learnt, the RSS leadership conferred not only with the BJP but with all its other wings. While the meeting had been fixed months ahead, the Anna phenomenon was the focus of the discussions over the past three days.
“All front organisations all over India will participate in this,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. The protest will take the form of torchlight processions, meetings, gatherings and larger rallies.
