NEW DELHI — Indian anti-graft activists led by Anna Hazare said yesterday they would start a new political movement aimed at winning seats in parliament for candidates committed to fighting corruption in public life. The move ahead of a 2014 general election marks a new chapter in their bid to rid the country of the scourge of bribe-taking which mobilised hundreds of thousands last year nation-wide but has since fizzled out.
Aides to Hazare broke the news at the end of his six-day hunger strike to press his demand for a new powerful anti-corruption ombudsman. “This is not a party. It will be a movement from the street to parliament. There will be no high command. People will decide the candidates and they will fund it,” fellow activist Arvind Kejriwal told the crowd.
Hazare, whose movement goes under the name “India Against Corruption,” is surrounded by trusted lieutenants who are collectively known as “Team Anna” in the Indian media. They comprise right to information activist Kejriwal, former policewoman Kiran Bedi and former Supreme Court judge and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan among others.
Recently retired army chief V K Singh, who fell out publicly with the government during his term in office, also signalled his support and new role in politics by joining the rally yesterday. Hazare said he would not personally contest a seat, but would instead tour the nation. “I will travel through the whole country for one and a half years... I will awaken the whole population,” he told crowds of supporters, many dressed in the distinctive white cap which has become his trademark.
