Anna saga players in caricature

Anna Hazare is a metaphor. The antithesis of the mess and the corruption that our parliamentary democracy has  come to be identified with. Yet, the rebel with many causes is an unlikely model for the brand that he has suddenly become.

The fascination this portly activist from Maharashtra holds for the GenX and the glamour-struck media alike is intriguing. Ashish Nandy described Anna as the quintessential neighbourhood elder. That is perhaps why his pronouncements about sending all dissenters "to the mental hospital" can be taken about as  seriously as the Jan Lokpal Bill, the latest truth that GenNext's Gandhi is experimenting with.

The rise of  Brand Anna lies in his crusading zeal. Passion is an attractive trait in a mass leader and Anna has it in abundance. His work in Ralegaon Siddhi entailed banning alcohol and imposing family planning with a missionary zeal.

The vision of a Stalinist Satyugis alluring when the parliamentary system seems like a farce. Compared to  the waffling of a government mired in scams, the idea of a puritanical warrior bringing order to the chaos is  appealing enough to trigger a mass movement. What remains to be discovered is whether the idea of Anna is bigger than the man himself.

Mr. Rulebook: Pranab Mukherjee

The UPA's 'Mr Fixit' denies telling Team Anna that the Gandhian's health was not the government's concern but  that of Kejriwal & Co. But the finance minister is the kind of blunt-talking man who could well have said it.

We  did not hear much of Pranab da in the initial phases of the Hazare agitation. But when it became clear that the government was floundering, the cry to rope in his services grew louder. Mukherjee, who is known to be a stickler for rules, has already made some dent on the situation, despite attempts to muddy the situation.

The Argumentative Indian: Kapil Sibal

It is the ultimate irony. The Lokpal battle is being fought on the Ramlila Maidan, located in the parliamentary constituency of the man Anna's army loves to hate and vice-versa. It must also be galling for the Harvard-trained lawyer that far from having won the argument for the government, he lost the war and is being pilloried for that, even by his own partymen.

That would be a rare moment of humbling for the articulate Sibal, who has seldom lost an argument - whether in a court or outside. It was the glibness which got him the role of the Congress's chief spokesperson for the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls. It was also his reputation as a firefighter that saw him being made telecom minister after A. Raja's inglorious exit. But this is one fire which he is finding tough to fight with words.

The Courier: Sandeep Dikshit

Perennially attired in colourful kurta-pajama, with a jhola slung over his shoulders, the 48-year-old son of Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit looks more like a member of Arvind Kejriwal's NGO army.

After all, he has spent a decade as Kejriwal's activist colleague before contesting Lok Sabha elections.

He took up the role of a negotiator in the current crisis using his development sector credentials. The MP started on a right note when he became one of the first Congressmen to criticise Hazare's arrest. Will his current role and a little help from the doting  mother earn him a rightful place in Congress's scheme of things? Maybe soon.

Mr. Amiable: Salman Khurshid

Even with his right lineage - maternal grandson of former president Zakir Hussain and son of a former Union Minister - this Oxford alumnus has had a tiring time becoming the Congress's minority face. But the  sophistication came in handy when his colleagues Kapil Sibal and P. Chidambaram earned the ire of members of Team Anna to be edged out of the talks. Khurshid was present in all meetings, not saying a word out of place nor offering any criticism of the other side despite ample provocation. In measured tone, he warded off the media and the government's critics.

The talks were, unsurprisingly, on track.

Mr. Sulk: P. Chidambaram

He has a supreme belief in his own abilities. But P. Chidambaram's problem is his equally profound belief that everyone else is imbecile.

Any politician with his ear to the ground would have gauged that sending an ageing do-gooder to Tihar Jail would be a political disaster. This led to a deification that Anna himself would not have imagined. The home minister's partymen are hoping such arrogance is not displayed again to ruin the spadework done to stem the Anna tide.

Mr. Serious: Prashant Bhushan

It is difficult to picture the serious, conservatively attired Prashant Bhushan along with the more exuberant Anna supporters.

In a courtroom, he is a formidable opponent, as some of Tihar's high-profile residents, enjoying state hospitality thanks to his tireless pursuit of the 2G scam, will testify. He is India's 'Mr. Public Interest Litigation', having fought more than 500 cases. Which is why he was at the forefront during the
drafting of the Jan Lokpal Bill and the discussions with the government. But as the show shifted to Ramlila Maidan, Team Anna's earnest face has been mostly missing from the TV screens.

Sri Middle Class: Sri Sri Ravishankar

Among the mediators who have buzzed around Camp Anna is Sri Sri, who believes that love conquers all. But he found it's a commodity in short supply in Delhi.

He flitted from place to place offering his services, but there were no takers. The Art of Living guru's zeal then faded away, perhaps because the composition of the Ramlila Maidan crowd changed from the middle-class types to the rustic folks who like their gurus to dress only in saffron.

Sideshow Baba: Ramdev

Making the leap from pranayamto politics is tougher than breathing in and out, as the yoga guru found out when  he set up Ramlila Maidan's first tryst with fighting corruption. Unlike Anna's fast, his 'fast-unto-death' ended ingloriously, with Ramdev fleeing the ground dressed in women's clothes after a police swoop. His attempts to  recapture the Ramlila stage have been repulsed by Anna's core team. But Ramdev is nothing if not a trier. And it would be a mistake to dismiss either him or the large following he has.

The Ring Leader: Arvind Kejriwal

The unsmiling ring leader of the Anna pack has turned the debate on a boring legislation into a catalyst for illusionary change in society.

He charges into meetings with Union ministers with the zealousness of a crusader. As he conducts the fight of good versus evil from Ramlila Maidan, he juxtaposes myth with reality to keep the battleground alive with the promise of victory.

While his former comrades are still on the margins, Kejriwal has catapulted himself in the middle of mainstream political discourse. He embraces what Manish Tewari famously  referred to as an assembly of "overground Maoists and underground fascists" with equal zeal and balances the saffron with the red without suffering from any political conscience.

The propensity to don many hats makes him a marked man for the Congress. But regardless of what happens to the Bill, Kejriwal has a bright future at least in the saffron quarters.

Ms. Hyper: Kiran Bedi

The former supercop knows how to play the media to the hilt. Hit Kiran Bedi on Google and you will find a torrent of articles and reports singing praise of the legendary 'Crane Bedi' or the reformer who made Tihar a humane place.

Now she is there, telegenically waving the Tricolour, whispering into Anna's ears or delivering an impassioned speech to a gaggle of star-struck TV channels. Her's has been the voice insistently pushing a hard line against the government, using tweets to full effect.

Mao Swami: Swami Agnivesh

A veteran of many political and social battles, the Arya Samaj exponent fashioned himself as a left-of-the-centre spiritual leader. This apparent contradiction served him well as he has emerged as key negotiator between extremes - the government and the agitationists (whether the civil society or the Naxalites) on the other. But this skill didn't find him much favour with the Anna camp.