Team Anna fast: Where have the people gone?

Mangalore Today/ CNN-IBN

New Delhi, July 27: It is day three of Team Anna’s fast in the capital and all eyes will be on whether the turnout continues to stay slim. Several questions are now being on whether Anna Hazare has lost the magic touch.

 

 

Day two of Anna’s agitation saw a definite dip in the numbers bringing back memories of the December 2011 fast in Mumbai and Delhi. Anna is not yet on an indefinite fast, Arvind Kejriwal was away in Bulanshahar until 4 pm in the afternoon. The two people on fast, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia perhaps are not the faces of the agitation yet.

But this is not just about numbers. The upper middle class crowd that flocked to Jantar Mantar in huge numbers was missing. This time, women, too, were conspicuous by their absence.

While the earlier fast had focussed only on the Jan Lokpal Bill, this time, Team Anna is demanding a Special Investigation Team probe against 15 ministers and a fast track court against 162 members of Parliament who have cases against them.

The next two days would be crucial for Team Anna. With Anna himself sitting on a fast from Sunday, hopes are alive.