<img alt="" src="http://www.mid-day.com/imagedata/2010/may/dilli12.jpg" align="right" border="2" />It's not so much about members as it is about sensing the public mood. It's not so much about details and clauses as it is about democracy and free speech. The Ramlila ground is only one stage for a movement that has travelled well beyond Dilli. And that is what has made Raisina feel nervous as hell. Every capitulation by the government is magnified into a retreat. While Team Anna has skillfully expanded its narrow Lokpal platform to the wider anti-corruption one, the government's silly actions have allowed it go even further. Today the 73-year-old man on fast has also become a symbol of democracy ufffd not something that he had marched out of his village in rural Maharashtra to achieve. Indeed, bringing a government to its knees has made him a folk hero. It's less about politics and more about raw people power. Comparisons with the Mahatma may be unfair but the professional Anna has ensured that the simple old man now has a brand image much bigger than anything seen in recent times. Even as doctors monitor his health, it's Anna's confidence, clarity and courage that inspire people like the dabbawalas in Mumbai to go on their first strike in 120 years. Being a seasoned activist and agitator, Anna moves in a methodical manner. His pre-fast check up at 'Medanta', a hospital in Gurgaon, ensured he would have a baseline record of not just vital functions but also bodily marks to preempt possible roughing up by the police, aka Ramdev style. Crowds are not the only things that the government will be watching nervously. It's the spread and depth of people's movement and feeling elsewhere that they worry about today. Rattled Congress spokespersons and ranting ministers hasn't helped Manmohan's image. A government beleaguered by mega corruption, inflation, policy paralysis and terrorism has turned an ego battle into a very public headache.

A rose by any other name

It's not so much about members as it is about sensing the public mood

Anna power

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Anna power

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