Arvind Kejriwal rose to prominence as Anna’s right-hand man but soon started drifting as he has a mind of his own and wants to be second fiddle to none (Aam Army, Oct 29). To the extent that he totally separated himself from the parent Anna movement and floated his own political party! Now, however, he too seems to be going the Anna way—unplanned strategies, undefined goals, lack of vision. He is expending all energy and enthusiasm prematurely, and may soon lose the momentum. We all know that most politicians and the very machinery of government is corrupt. We have to move beyond that: figure out how to replace and revamp the present political system, how to remove corruption, how to bring offenders to task, and above all, how to prevent the new system from getting corrupt again. These are the issues Kejriwal has to address if he wants to make a lasting impact. He also has to realise that he needs to rise above witch-hunting and do something concrete.
Sanjay Kapoor, Calcutta
What we need is not another political party but a real mass movement in which the cause, not an individual, is important. As they say, ‘Do not fight with a pig because he’ll first pull you down to its level and then beat you.’ Arvind, beware!
Vijay B. Uniyal, New Delhi
There is nothing like a generically honest or dishonest person. It is only a matter of opportunity. Given a chance, Anjali Damania too could become a corrupt minister.
Prasanta Borpujari, Bangalore
What we need for any movement against corruption to succeed is people with deep personal integrity. Anna Hazare started well, but lost direction somewhere down the line.
Rohan Pandey, Pune
CWG, 2G, Coalgate—all these had given us hope. But finally, it’s Robert Vadra who’ll accelerate the demise of the dynasty. And once the dynasty goes, the Congress will follow suit. It’s only the glue of the dynasty which is holding the Grand Old Party together. Congressmen will be at each other’s throats when that time comes.
Navjeevan Khosla, on e-mail
It was Charles Caleb Colton who said, ‘Corruption is like a ball of snow, when once set a-rolling, it must increase.’ India ranks 87th in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index of 178 countries, and the government seems to be doing nothing. In this scenario, one can only thank Agent Arvind for all his effort in exposing the corrupt across the political spectrum.
Beena Mathur, Pune
Why has Kejriwal been silent on Coalgate? Is it to protect Naveen Jindal? A nationwide movement has been reduced to a mere systematic (and selective) character assassination.
Dinesh Chauksey, Bhopal
Kejriwal is not likely to win an election, leave alone come to power. His ideas of a new kind of politics and system may need years, even decades, and hundreds of Kejriwals to bear fruit. But for now his initiatives may change a few things.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
Kejriwal may or may not bring about a revolutionary shift in his favour at the EVMs, yet his courage and fearlessness in standing up to and exposing the corruption of the high and mighty deserves appreciation.
Pramod Srivastava, New Delhi
Apart from accusing politicians of corruption—indeed, he says that the whole political class functions as a family when it comes to it—he must also unveil his vision for a just and corruption-free India.
K.S. Jayatheertha, Bangalore
Kejriwal’s andolan is Delhi-centric and lacks an all-India base, among people, to sustain its momentum. It won’t be long before the Congress’s dirty tricks department finds the right pin to prick Kejriwal’s ballooning influence.
Kangayam R. Narasimhan, Chennai
Kejriwal donning the political mantle was a mistake. Politicians will love to have him on their own turf.
Manish Banerjee, Calcutta
If India was indeed a banana republic, Vadra would’ve been hanged by some despot for his misdemeanours long ago.
M.A. Raipet, Secunderabad
