SCULPTING TOMORROW'S POLITICS

               The country can still benefit from the changed expectations created by Team Anna

               Many columns have appeared advising Team Anna on their political plans.Many have cheered, seeing them as a ray of hope for kick-starting our political cleansing process.Others have warned against the potentially disastrous move.I won't add to the oodles of already existing, well-meant counsel.Team Anna has achieved a lot.They deserve respect for it.

              They have also made mistakes. To stumble upon public attention is one thing, to sustain it quite another.But for true leaders,mistakes are lessons.If Team Anna has that vision and attitude, they will continue to make a difference. If they don't, they will flounder, even with genuine intentions.There is a political opportunity created by Team Anna's current setbacks.The BJP, frequent opportunity-misser, has the most to gain here.The Congress can too.However, this requires the parties to stop gloating over the defeat of Team Anna and tap into the current public sentiment.

              It is important to comprehend what Anna started as, what he became and where he is now.Anna began his current anti-corruption campaign right after some of the biggest public scams in India's history.Indians have, and frankly, can live with modest amounts of corruption.However, what they get angry about is blatant,in-your-face corruption.The Commonwealth and 2G scams were about flagrant abuse of power. The arrogant smirks in the accused's faces as the government did little enraged people. People were upset. Anna seemed like someone who could do something about it. Charged with a World Cup cricket victory, Indians lent support in droves. The media followed. Anna and team, perhaps unexpectedly to them too, became star activists overnight. As the movement swelled, the government came to the table to talk, adding to Anna's awesomeness.

            In some ways, the half-dozen top BJP leaders today control India's future. If they learn to get along and back one solid candidate, they will win 2014 comfortably and can stay there for a long time. The Congress, of course, can capitalise on the sentiment of despair too. They could pass the Lokpal Bill. They could also start certain new initiatives, such as fast-track courts for big corruption cases.

            If either party capitalises on Anna's diminished movement, it could benefit them, but also the nation. If they don't, it will hurt them politically. In some ways, this is what Team Anna wanted anyways, to create a political incentive to address corruption. Ultimately, it isn't Congress,BJP or Anna that has to win but India. Let us hope that in 2014, that is what happens.