He uses symbols from Anna's protest last year
The announcement ceremony of the anti-graft party had several similarities to its parent movement led by Anna Hazare last year but without using his photo and name. The anti-graft crusader replaced Anna’s cap bearing slogan ‘Main Anna Hoon’ (I am Anna) with the cap ‘Main Hoon Ek Aam Aadmi’ (I am a common man).
The cap was worn by all activists including those on dais. Though Anna’s name was not used in any of the slogans, all anti-graft leaders made it a point to swear by his name. This cap also bore a slogan ‘Mujhe Janlokpal Chahiye (we want Jan Lokpal)’, which showed solidarity with the cause raised by veteran Gandhian.
“Now, Anna has reached to millions of Indians. Every Indian identifies with his name and that is why we are wearing caps with ‘Main Hoon Aam Aadmi’ slogan written on them,” said sociologist Anand Kumar of Jawahar Lal Nehru University.
The pandal erected at the heart of Delhi, merely a few yards away from Parliament, had showed several posters of great leaders to showcase the ideology which Arvind’s party seeks to follow.
In the background there were pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birthdays fall on October 2. Other images displayed at the function were of Jaiprakash Narayan, BR Ambedkar, Subhash Chandra Bose, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad — all great leaders revered by Anna.
The favourite slogan of Anna — Bharat Mata Ki Jai — was also chanted at a high pitch. Pro-democracy leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi was most unexpected leader whose portrait was put up at the party’s launch.
However, crowd and chaos prevalent in the anti-graft movement (India Against Corruption) on prior occassions was visibly missing on Tuesday.
“They remained seated for hours without getting impatient. This shows they have the seriousness of entering politics,” said Sanjiv Sane, an activist from Maharashtra.
People who had mainly come from Delhi and nearby places mainly consisted of youth.
