For all the gargantuan propaganda machinery and control over the media that the CONgress possesses, I am sure they must be wondering where they lost control of the situation with Mr. Hazare.

Like in every other situation, blaming the messenger is the surest way of derailing an accusation and guiding the spotlight away from the actual issue, so Mr. Sibal raised the questions of where Mr. Hazare and his team are getting the money to travel around the country and hold the various protests and other meetings. Then some other supporters came out and disclosed how Dr. Kiran Bedi's organization has been receiving crores of funds from somewhere, and similar accusations and insinuations keep coming in.

But then trust a politician to be the quickest to realize which direction the wind is blowing. For all their accusations upon Mr. Hazare, Mr. Kejriwal and others who they had arrested, once they realized the media (their beloved media so firmly under their control) was actually hinting that the people were swinging in Hazare's favour, they set him free at once with an unconditional permission that he was free to do whatever he liked.

I read a very interesting point made the other day - first the government invites the people to comment on the Lokpal Bill, Mr. Hazare's Civil Society takes the lead and in fact goes further, then the government squabbles with him for bringing those changes, and now as Mr. Hazare digs his feet in, the government's left in a position of reduced maneuvuering in about everything, now that they are the known bad guys around the country.

When I refer to Mr. Hazare, I want to make it clear that I include all the members of the team that he is a part of, including my friend Manu who has been working behind the scenes this whole time. A big section of the media hails him as the new Gandhi, much to the chagrin of the current generation decendent of Gandhi ji (not the fraud Gandhi's who rule the roost at the centre).

The fact is that every uprising, protest or revolution needs a face, and Anna Hazare now happens to be that face. Now it can be that that face is just a face to show, or a face that actually leads as well, and in many ways, Mr. Hazare is both of these, because I know that a leading fighter in this camp has been Arvind Kejriwal who has all the experience and capabilities to be the brain behind the planning and strategy. In addition, Dr. Kiran Bedi's experience in dealing with politicians and with the population is a huge asset. Swami Agnivesh has also been an instrumental figure in the campaign, though his image isn't as visible as the others. But my point is that the people need a rallying point, and Mr. Hazare has become that point because of his age, his Gandhian dressing and the fact that he belongs to rural India. So more power to him and those that question his actions or the fact that he shouldn't be blown up into such a big deal, the fact is that there needs to be a face, and he is one because I feel that our society in general, I included, are very weak to rise on our own, hence our tolerence for injustice.

Of course, the big question that even the government has raised is how is the Civil Society a representative of the entire population, and who made it such. Again, I would raise my point that those who are most vocal are heard, and fortunately, there was some group of individuals who were loud enough to be heard, and the good news is that now Civil Society has a huge support from the common populace behind it.

While I am writing about the Lokpal Bill, I, perhaps like many others who have written about it, have not read it, and do not know the differences between the bill the government proposes to pass and the one that is being pushed by team Hazare. I have been reading conflicting reports on who supports what, because the BJP too is apparently not in favour of the bill that is being pushed by Civil Society but a few days later, Varun Gandhi says he will introduce the Civil Society's version of the bill in the Parliament.

Of course, every party (other than the CONgress that is) wants to cash in on the Anna Hazare phenomenon by supporting it with big words and even some action. Perhaps to the naked eye is a good thing that Anna Hazare and his team have not really accepted support from any political party, and this is good strategic thinking because even though they could have gladly accepted the BJP's support, the CONgress would have at once pounced on this opportunity and painted it as a far Right anti-secular conspiracy, similar to how they discredited Baba Ramdev. Not that the CONgressi's haven't done so already. Ah, and the foreign hand card!

From what I gather from the news around, the good news is that the media is still paying attention and that the people are still supporting the movement, and the CONgress is still looking at how to get back on the driving seat again. One possible way forward for the Government is to get one of India's most corrupt politicians to solve the crisis. It'll be a great way to go for the party, I must say, because its time Sharad Pawar was questioned for his greed too. After being shown the door from the Parliamentary Committee on corruption, when he tried to show that he had quit on his own, he has been keeping a low profile in this whole episode.

Perhaps this country is waiting for the Sonia and Rahul to come in and sooth the frail nerves of this country and everything will be right again. Yes, I think the stage is being set for that.