14 December 2011

WHAT WAS ALL THAT KOLAVERI-KOLAVERI-KOLAVERI DI ALL ABOUT?

WHAT WAS THAT KOLAVERI - KOLAVERI - KOLAVERI DI ??? After the bye-elections of Hissar, Team Anna and Mr Anna Hazare himself hailed the defeat of Congress as a clear referendum in favour of Jan Lokpal Bill. Arvind Kejriwal, who campaigned actively in Hisar said, ""It is a referendum on Jan Lokpal bill. Congress should take a lesson and now pass Jan Lokpal bill." Mr Hazare himself shook an admonishing finger and said, "If the Congress still has not learnt a lesson from these polls, then the condition would worsen further..... Hissar saw Team Anna’s workers campaigning for the anti-corruption cause but next for the assembly elections it will be ‘me’, Anna Hazare who will personally rally for the cause." As we see things, for the past few days there's been a logjam again over inclusion of Group C and D (junior govt. employees like inspectors, clerks, postmen etc) in the Jan Lokpal Bill. Team Anna's reasoning was that for the "aam admi" the biggest harm is done by lower govt. functionaries like municipal workers, block / tehsil level officials etc. One would have imagined therefore, that the "aam admi" who had roared like wounded lions in places like Jantar Mantar and Ram Lila and warned the forces of corruption from Hissar and Ralegaons of India would follow through with an even stronger message in assembly elections and certainly in civic body elections. But ooops! what happens is in Ratia, Cong. is voted big time and wins after 30 years. In Adampur, it substantially improves its performance from the Lok Sabha bye-polls of Hissar. Ratia and Adampur are both part of the same Hissar Lok Sabha constituency which had supposedly issued "warning" in Hissar polls. In Maharashtra civic elections (Mr Hazare's village Ralegaon Siddhi is in Maharashtra) one would have expected a reverberating people's war cry. Instead, out of the declared 2992 seats, Sharad Pawar's NCP grabbed 1100 and Cong. got 679 till last count. That's a resounding combined victory of 1779 seats so far!!! It must be acting like a soothing balm for Mr Pawar - and rightly so. If "aam adami" was so peeved, then how come commonest of common men, voting in the most grassroot of elections gave such a big pat to his party in the fortress of Mr Hazare? This makes one wonder, whose "voice" is Team Anna anyway? What does "aam adami" really want? Does he really support Jan Lokpal Bill that much as some "I am Anna" topiwallas would have us all to believe? Were those thousands visiting Ram Lila grounds in August not true representatives of the India that lives in places like Ratia and rural Maharashtra? What objective indicators should one see from these recent poll results?