Indian social activist Anna Hazare, whose campaign for a tough anti-corruption law has drawn huge public support, vowed on Friday to start a new movement against the ruling Congress party.
The 74-year-old activist wants anti-graft legislation passed by the end of the winter session of parliament on December 21 that would create a powerful independent ombudsman able to investigate and prosecute public servants.
“If the bill is not passed in the winter session, I will go to the five poll states facing elections and urge people not to vote for Congress,” Hazare told reporters in New Delhi soon after ending a 19-day “vow of silence”.
Elections are slated for the states of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh in 2012.
The anti-corruption movement, spearheaded by Hazare, has dealt a major blow to the Congress party’s chances of wining the elections, analysts say.
Hazare said he did not intend to destabilise the government and added that he was confident that strong legislation would reduce corruption in the country by “at least 60 percent”.
“Some of the leading voices of the government are trying to create doubt by their flip-flops on the issue. I therefore request the government to bring in a tough law as assured to us earlier.”
Hazare’s latest salvo puts fresh pressure on Singh’s embattled government, already reeling from a series of corruption scandals including the flawed sale of telecom licences that cost the country up to $39 billion.
The former army truck driver has modelled his image on Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
He transfixed the country by staging a nearly two-week anti-corruption fast in New Delhi in August, drawing together many Indians, especially from the urban middle class, but also polarised public opinion.
Many see him as a moral leader who exposed the government’s apathy towards corruption.
But critics see Hazare as an autocrat who has used undemocratic methods to force his views on parliament and gave false hopes to his supporters that a law can end endemic corruption in Asia’s third-largest economy.
He also faces problems in his inner circle, known as “Team Anna,” after a key member, Kiran Bedi, admitted to over-charging organisations and charities for speaking engagements.
