Even as a moderate crowd turned up on Sunday at the indefinite protest of social activist Anna Hazare in support of his demand for a strong Lokpal, the former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, a prominent member of Team Anna, has suggested that Mr. Hazare tour the country to mobilise support for his movement.
“Anna should start moving out to other parts of the country. He should tour different areas, especially rural areas. It is rural areas from where our strength comes,” Mr. Hegde told The Hindu here on Sunday.
He admitted that the ongoing protest in Delhi had not evoked the same kind of response in comparison with his two previous protests, which had seen a massive participation by the people.
However, he made it clear that it did not mean that people were not with Anna. Calling it a “fatigue factor”, he said: “I am hundred per cent sure that people are with Anna.”
“This (dwindling numbers) is not surprising because most of the supporters of Anna come from a particular class of society and they have their own work to do and commitments to keep. We cannot expect them to come down to the streets,” he said.
Asserting that people had continued to be on Anna’s side and that still there was anger among them (against the system), he said the question now was how to mobilise them again.
“Any way this movement would not have succeeded so easily but for the civilian splurge of support received by Anna that even frightened the establishment. ,” he said.
Hoping that the response for the ongoing protest would also pick up, he said: “Let’s test their (people’s) patience.”
