ANNA HAZARE: RISE OF ANOTHER MAHATMA GANDHI

Early Life

Born in Bhingari village of Maharashtra, Anna Hazare dropped out of school at Class 7 due to poverty, sold flowers for a while and then became a driver in the army to feed his family in a rural part of Maharashtra.

After China's 1962 incursion into India when the Indian government appealed to the youth to join the Army, Hazare was among the first who joined the Indian armed forces. He was trained as a truck driver and given a

posting in Punjab.

Early Life

CONTD..• His days in the army were often spent in reading books by Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and

Acharya Vinoba Bhave, from whom he drew inspiration.

• During the 1965 war against Pakistan, Hazare survived an attack on his post; however, he saw his colleagues dying.

• The incident left a deep impact and he pledged to remain a bachelor and serve the country in a bigger way.

Achievements:

ACHIEVEMENTS: His struggle for bringing about change began in his own village. A long time ago it was a

miserable and barren place with scanty rainfall and lacking any economy. It suffered from frequent droughts

In 1975, Hazare initiated a transformation of his village through watershed development using nallah bands, check dams and contour trenches that raised the water table and helped villagers irrigate their fields. He also took up literacy programmes and measures to combat alcoholism.

CONTD..• While working for the village ecology, Hazare came across a case of corruption by forest

officers and went on an indefinite hunger strike in Alandi near Pune. His agitation compelled the authorities to take action against the erring officers.

• India recognized his work by awarding him a Padma Vibhushan and a Padma Bhushan.

War against corruption

WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION• Anna formed the ‘Bhrastachar Virodhi Jan Andolan’ in 1991 which gradually spread across

the state in the form of district-level vigilance committees.

• With his trademark khadi dress and Gandhi cap, Hazare used his ingrained strength to repeatedly go on hunger strikes that led to the resignation of six ministers from the Maharashtra government.

CONTD..• In 1995, Hazare's fast led to exit of two state Cabinet Ministers, labeled corrupt by the

Gandhian and the Sena-BJP government was forced to drop them.

• Hazare did not spare the Congress-NCP regime either and in 2003, went on hunger strike against four ministers, Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, Vijaykumar Gavit and Padamsinh Patiln, alleging they indulged in massive corruption.

CONTD..• His campaign also forced the sacking of 400 corrupt officials in his home state Maharashtra.

• In 2009, two persons arrested for killing Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar said there was a contract given out to kill him.

• His reputation as a man of integrity gave him clout that the corrupt found difficult to battle.

• He also fought for the rights of the tribal's, the lowliest of the lowliest.

CONTD.. But it was the hunger strike he launched in New Delhi that finally made him a national hero – in no time

igniting a pan-India revolt that stunned the government bogged down by corruption scandals. The modern day Mahatma, as his supporters fondly call him, in April fasted for five days in the heart of the

capital, drawing tens of thousands from all walks of life who are sick and tired of India's cancerous corruption.

Much like Mahatma Gandhi, Anna Hazare has led a humble life. He still lives in a small room attached to the Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan-Siddhi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.

HIS PROMOTION MIX• He took the help of Media by giving catchy lines in the Interviews like “Joke Pal not Lok Pal”

• He took the help telecom network by sending bulk SMSs to create awareness for his Lokpal bill and his fast.

• He took the help of Social Network ie Facebook, Twitter etc by creating a page named “I Am Anna”, which also had batches to attach in the profile.

TEAM ANNA’S STRATEGY• In just the same way as editors conduct a news meeting every morning, key

members of Team Anna too hold their own media strategy meeting. In this meeting, different ideas are discussed. The team then comes up with catchy headlines, like "Joke Pal not Lok Pal", headlines that these professionals from their past experience know the media is likely to lap up.

• Talking points are circulated to members who will be appearing on TV debates or giving print interviews. The instruction is clear, don't get bogged down by the noise of a TV discussion and regardless of what the anchor asks or the other panellists allege, ensure that what you say does not stray from the key issue of Jan Lokpal and corruption.

• Team Anna has even engaged an external media tracking agency that pores over every line of news carried in newspapers and TV channels. If the team feels the media is drifting from their message, meetings are immediately convened and course correction strategies chalked out.

CONTD..

• The strategists also realise the importance of keeping the message fresh to ensure that 'Breaking News' is supplied at regular intervals. Letters to the Prime Minister or Sonia Gandhi, or photo opportunities like Anna sitting at Rajghat on Independence Day are part of this strategy.

• Team Anna has realised the importance of symbolism, which is how Anna's image in front of Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi became the defining image this Independence Day, instead of the Prime Minister speaking at Red Fort.

CONTD..• Not just is the importance of communicating the right message

understood, attempts are also made to ensure that there are no deviations from the central message.

• When Anna Hazare spoke out in favour of Narendra Modi, the media strategists quickly understood that this comment could end up alienating apolitical supporters and fuel allegations that Anna was the BJP's B-Team. Very quickly, it was clarified that Anna only praised Modi's development work and did not condone state-sponsored riots.

• When allegations were levelled that the RSS was sponsoring Anna's campaign, attempts were made to rope in faces from the Muslim community to give the movement an inclusive feel.

CONTD..

• Attempts to leverage the media are not restricted to TV and print, social media too is given a major thrust, which is what explains the large turn-out of youngsters at places like India Gate and Azad Maidan.

• A dedicated team of volunteers constantly updates India Against Corruption, Facebook pages and Twitter handles, which is how the youth know where to assemble and when.

• Rattled by a series of PR disasters, the government has now formulated a Group of Ministers on the media, whose job is to communicate the government's viewpoint to the people in real time.

CONTD..

• At every stage, Anna has shown that he is three steps ahead of the government. When it became clear that the government would arrest Anna Hazare on Tuesday morning, Team Anna recorded a message for the people of India. Government sources dismissed this tactic as being inspired by slain terrorist Osama bin Laden, but the video message helped Anna generate sympathy even amongst fence sitters who did not support his campaign before this. The recording also had a graphic plate with the names of people who would lead the movement in Anna's absence - a key mass communication strategy to ensure that people know whose voice to listen to.

CONTD..• In an era when 24-hour TV is a reality that cannot be wished away, Team Anna has shown

how even with limited resources, mass media can be channelised to amplify the message. The government, despite the innumerable resources at its command, still comes across as confused and chooses to blame the media for creating the Anna phenomenon. A classic case of confusing the message with the messenger. No wonder Anna is winning and the government is bound in shackles.

ANNA'S MEDIA STRATEGY DECODED

MEDIA MANAGERS..

Thank You