The campaign by Anna Hazare raised issues not passions. It stuck to a central theme and was serious about a dialogue with the government. Ramdev’s campaign was the very antithesis of this. In addition, it was used as a Trojan horse by political opportunists. The UPA-II appeared submissive while dealing with Ramdev, nevertheless it had the wisdom to try and engage in a dialogue as it had done with activists demanding a strong Lok Pal Bill. But the government finally cracked the whip on Ramdev because the approach of his campaign was wrong. One hopes to see a healthy delivery of the draft Lok Pal Bill. But whether political parties that encourage these civil society movements will eventually have the courage to pass the Bill or not is a moot point.
R Narayanan, Ghaziabad
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