New Delhi:
A call from Ramlila Maidan in Delhi has seen anti-corruption activists knocking at the doors of MPs demanding that Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill be passed in Parliament. At some doorsteps, the protestors met solid support - very conspicuously from Congress MPs like Priya Dutt and Sanjay Nirupam in an Anna Hazre cap, in Mumbai.
Priya Dutt came out of her Bandra home to meet the 50-odd protestors raising pro-Anna slogans and lauded their efforts to fight corruption. She promised them that she was with the people on the demand for a strong Lokpal.
The young MP, whose father actor Sunil Dutt was also a politician with a spotless reputation, said she was in favour of a strong anti-corruption Bill and believed, "the judiciary must come under Lokpal...even the PM and I don't think the PM has a problem with it." Both are among Anna's key demands.
Neither draft - the government's or the civil activists' - was perfect, Ms Dutt said, and stressed on dialogue as the way forward. Ms Dutt also wrote to the India Against Corruption movement extending her support to the efforts for "a corruption-free nation".
Another Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam, met the protestors at Vile Parle police station in Mumbai wearing an Anna Hazare cap. He told the protestors that he supported Mr Hazare's cause and that he would try his "level best...but one MP alone can't make a difference."
There are other voices. In a strong statement, the Congress MP from Wardha Datta Meghe came out to meet protestors at his home and suggested that party spokesman Manish Tiwari apologise to Anna Hazare for his very public words of criticism or "unkind words" as Mr Meghe put it. He emphatically said he did not support the government action on both Baba Ramdev a few months ago or on Anna Hazare last week.
And Haryana MP Naveen Jindal has tweeted, even before IAC protestors reached him - "I fully support a effective Lokpal , #Anna's cause is exemplary and has to be done following due Parliamentary Process taking all on board (sic)."
In Delhi, Sandeep Dikshit, the son of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, said last week on the arrest of Anna Hazare, "Yes it was wrong...If the Delhi Police thought there may have a disturbance in public order, they could have detained him."