His distaste for the political class apart, Anna Hazare does share a crucial commonality with the netas of the country. The social activist too grapples with what’s generally called groupism, as differences amounting to dissidence have defined the changing profile of his key supporters.
Much like it is with the political leaders, Hazare — even at age 74 today — isn’t too sure of holding together his lieutenants. Reason: they differ over the Gandhian’s style of functioning. In fact, this has existed as a pattern during the last two decades. So, those close to him in these days of Jan Lok Pal debate and agitation are new characters in Hazare's alliance, which comprised a totally different set of people, say, two decades ago.
The anarcho-pacifist’s earlier managerie comprised respectful figures like socialist leader G P Pradhan, late freedom fighter Govinbhai Shroff, former minister of state Bhai Vaidya, trade unionist Baba Adhav, writer-socialist Pushpa Bhave and Yuvak Kranti Dal Kumar Saptashri founder-president Avinash Dharmadhikari, a former IAS officer.
Probably the last luminary to join that company was H M Desarda. But then, the former member of the Maharashta State Planning Board not only distanced himself from Hazare; he has asked the veteran to call off the indefinite fast starting tomorrow in Delhi to press for the establishment of a Jan Lok Pal.
Desarda believes that an independent and efficient Lok Pal Act is a necessity, but doesn’t find it adequate to uproot corruption in the country. He maintains that Hazare’s present aides are pursuing their individual goals by creating a media hype around their leader.
Hazare's new crew includes former minister Shanti Bhushan, his lawyer-son Prashant Bhushan, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and young RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal.
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Hazare, who rose to fame by spearheading the socio-economic transformation of his Ralegan Siddhi village in west-central Maharashtra, has always received support from across people for his fight against corruption. But close looks can reveal the chinks, says a one-time associate of Hazare. “He has this habit of making allegations against his men based on hearsay and without concrete proof. That’s why his close associates have deserted him one by one,” says the man, who had worked as the trustee of a Hazare-led trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950.
Pradhan, who was leader of the Opposition in the state council, resigned as the trustee on December 8, 1999, only seven weeks after the late Shroff, who had played a key role to pursue demand to rename the Marathwada University after Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, quit that post. It was only a year before this that Dharmadhikai, who had worked as the secretary to the chief minister during the Shiv Sena-BJP rule during 1995-99, resigned as trustee.
The next resignation came on November 19, 2001, when trade unionist Baba Adhav, who has been fighting for the cause of water and autorikshaw drivers in Pune, quit as trustee. Leading professor and socialist leader Pushpa Bhave's term expired in 2002, but she never sought renewal.
In 2005, the Justice P B Sawant Commission, which held Hazare guilty of illegal and corrupt practice, has noted something similar to what his detractors have stated. Its report says that the people would blindly believe Hazare’s public allegations against his workers, whose reputation would be marred even if they later get cleared of the charges. Social power, it says, “should not be allowed to become an engine of oppression of the innocent”.