22 April,2011 08:19 AM IST | | Arindam Chaudhuri
On the second day of Anna's fast when I wrote an article "Anna, my Prime Minister", some people pounced on me and accused me of writing it a bit too soon and getting carried away. But to us, Anna was not a new phenomenon. 12 years ago, the IIPM Think Tank had initiated visits to Anna's villages and had undertaken a study.
Therefore, when he decided to come to Delhi, I instantly knew we needed to be behind him. Dr Kiran Bedi too supported the cause and so did Arvind Kejriwal, who fought selflessly for the RTI Act. Swami Agnivesh, who has a very balanced outlook to social causes, was present there too. That's a group that, for the first time in my life, I could feel proud of. And yes, these are the people I want our country to be led by.
So, if the question is whether I still stand by my initial proclamation, the answer is yes; and more so after meeting the man himself in person. In our country, most of the people live below the poverty line and don't get proper education. Anna's life education is worth many PhDs. India lives in its villages and so does Anna. His selfless nature, down-to-earth ways, his simple yet honest and powerful thoughts made me personally respect him far more than I had imagined.
Sitting next to him was Arvind Kejriwal ufffd another example of a man who worked selflessly to give an entire nation hope through the RTI Act and made the government much more responsible in many ways. Every word he spoke added to the belief with which I went to them ufffd the belief that we needed to bring them to mainstream politics. Although they both vehemently disagreed on coming to mainstream vote-politics, I was more than convinced that these are the leaders we needed; because people easily associate themselves with Anna and his people and can respect them.
I just want to say that it is time that we don't breathe easy just with this one small win that Anna and his group of committed Indians have achieved. I was happy to know that even they don't plan to leave it here. Up on their agenda are judicial and electoral reforms ufffd two subjects extremely close to our hearts.
Politics is not the last resort of scoundrels. but the first resort of every committed soul. They need to show us the way. And I, for one would rather have a man like Anna Hazare as my Prime Minister ufffd simply because his heart is in the right place ufffd than having a Ph.D in economics as my Prime Minister who breeds corruption and keeps his eyes closed to all the filth around him.
