There is no question that any deep political engagement among India's rapidly growing middle class is a major threat to the status quo in Indian politics.
As the Times' South Asia bureau chief Jim Yardley wrote in an article published Sunday, "The Hazare movement rattled India's political establishment because it offered a glimpse of what could happen if the middle class was mobilized across the country. Professionals and college students provided the organizational spine, and money, that brought hundreds of thousands of people of all backgrounds onto the streets in what many described as a political awakening."
But will the supporters of Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement's supporters remain engaged as it wades into the choppier waters of Indian politics? Rallying huge numbers of Indians to fight corruption is one thing. But persuading them to join in a broader, politically inflected movement to transform public life may prove much tougher.
In recent weeks high-profile defections and allegations of financial misdeeds have shaken the movement, raising questions about its sustainability. Several members of the committee leading Team Anna have stepped down, citing disappointment at the decision to campaign in a by-election in Haryana. Mr. Hazare himself, whose every stray remark is parsed on the front pages of newspapers, has taken a vow of silence. Analysts wonder whether a movement built on disdain for politics can survive the down-and-dirty of Indian political life.
The top remaining members of the Team Anna met in Ghaziabad on Saturday and affirmed that the movement's leadership would remain in place. They also agreed that campaigning against the Congress Party in the Hisar by-election was the right thing to do. Arvind Kejriwal, a veteran activist from the right to information movement who is Mr. Hazare's closest adviser, said government efforts to discredit Team Anna were futile.
"If it continues on its strategy to attack us, then the next movement will be 10 times stronger," Mr. Kejriwal told reporters at a televised news conference.
But three prominent members of the core committee were conspicuous in their absence: the former supreme court justice Santosh Hegde and two veteran activists, Medha Patkar and Kumar Vishwas, all of whom had serious reservations about getting involved in politics.
Top members of the team have also suffered some personal embarrassments lately. Kiran Bedi's travel expense woes increased last week when her travel agent resigned in a spat over the inflated bills. In an interview with India Ink, Ms. Bedi said that the travel agent, Anil Bal, had been responsible for handling all her travel arrangements and faulted Mr. Bal for not defending her.
"I don't deal with money," she said. "All I needed on that day of the press conference was my travel agent to say, 'Who are you talking to? She is only a speaker. She only travels. I am the one who issues the tickets.'"
Meanwhile, Mr. Kejriwal has been struggling to resolve questions over an unpaid tax bill and his handling of donations to the Team Anna anti-corruption struggle. In April, father-and-son lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan faced allegations, long since discredited, that they undervalued property to avoid taxes.
Ms. Bedi dismissed these allegations, calling them a purposeful attempt by the government and its allies to drive a wedge between Mr. Hazare, the homespun Gandhian village activist, and his top advisers, who are savvy former bureaucrats with the know-how and connections to turn his lofty words into serious action.
"They tried their level best to see that Team Anna falls apart and Anna is left alone," Ms. Bedi said.
She said that the cause is more important than any individual's integrity, and that they themselves welcomed the kind of scrutiny a bill to establish an anti-corruption ombudsman, known as the Lokpal, would bring.
"You don't like us, you find fault with us? You think we are not clean? Fine. Hold us responsible," she said. "Condemn us. Hurt us. Defame us. But remember what we are asking for, we ourselves are asking to be subject to it."
Ms. Bedi played down dissension over the decision to campaign against the Congress Party in Hisar, describing it as a natural evolution the fight for their anti-corruption cause. She said Team Anna had concluded that hunger strikes and rallies would not be enough.
"We realized as we negotiated with the political parties is that what really changes them is the threat of losing an election," she said. "Nothing else matters to them. That is why Anna has been saying, 'You don't bring the bill by December, we go back to Uttar Pradesh for campaigning.'"
That is no idle threat. The Congress Party is trying to wrest control of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, from a regional opposition party. The race has in many ways become a referendum on the viability of Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the dynasty, as party leader and prime ministerial candidate in the next national election, in 2014.
Ms. Bedi said Team Anna was determined to prove that the electorate is more interested in good governance than the traditional divisive politics of caste, religion and regionalism, and Hisar was a chance to test their hypothesis.
"Caste and faith will no more be a vote bank," she said. "Issue will also be a vote bank. And this issue today is an agenda on people's mind. So we wanted to risk it and we proved it."
It remains to be seen, though, will whether the middle-class supporters of the Anna Hazare movement will be turned off by this sudden shift to what looks an awful lot like traditional politics.
Many analysts argue that before it gets carried away, the movement must deliver on its initial pledge: getting a strong anti-corruption ombudsman. As one op-ed in the Hindustan Times put it: "It isn't the end of the line for the Anna Gang. An emphatic, visible spring-cleaning with the focus back on the real job at hand - pushing for a strong Lokpal Bill - can rescue the campaign."
Will the middle class Indians energized by Anna Hazare's fast remain engaged, and how are they likely to shape India's politics in the years ahead? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.