The Summer of Discontent: How the ‘India Against Corruption’ Movement Unfolded; Case A: The Beginning

Abstract

This case study is in three parts and describes the leadership styles and challenges facing the ‘India Against Corruption’ (IAC) movement led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in India.

Case A describes the beginning of the IAC movement as a series of alleged corruption scandals came to light in 2010. The IAC sought to pressurize the government into enacting a strong Lokpal (Public Ombudsman) Bill. The hunger strike staged by Anna Hazare drew massive public support and forced the government to create a joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill with five representatives from the government and five from IAC. The deliberations of the committee proved to be tough as the government reportedly accepted less than a dozen items from IAC’s 71-point agenda. The committee failed to reach consensus and IAC threatened to begin another hunger strike if a ‘strong’ Lokpal Bill was not introduced in Parliament.